JAPANESE COMMENTS ON SYRIAN ISSUE AT MARCH IAEA

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 000387 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/J, ISN/RA (NEPHEW AND DANIEL) E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2020 TAGS: PARM PREL IAEA SY JA SUBJECT: JAPANESE COMMENTS ON SYRIAN ISSUE AT MARCH IAEA BOARD MEETING REF: STATE 16530 Classified By: Acting DCM Marc M. Wall, reasons 1.4. (B) and (D) ¶1. (SBU) Econoff delivered the demarche contained in reftel to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Non-Proliferation, Science, and Nuclear Energy Division official responsible for Syrian issues Yosuko Nagata on February 25. Nagata agreed about the importance of the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Syria, and said Japan will continue to urge Syria to cooperate with the IAEA. ¶2. (C) Nagata did not have any ideas or comments regarding reftel request for ways to increase pressure on Syria at the March Board of Governors meeting. He said Japan would make a statement, probably focused on passage "C. 19" from the Director General's report, in which the Director General offers to find a way to protect Syrian military information while still conducting inspections. ¶3. (C) Nagata expressed concern that the Syrian issue could negatively impact the NPT Review Conference (RevCon) in May. He opined that any "next steps such as a special investigation" should be discussed after the NPT RevCon, so as not to cause problems at the RevCon. He stresed, however, that this was only a personal opinion and not official GOJ policy. ROOS