LITHUANIA SUPPORTS U.S. POSITION ON IRAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000079 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2020 TAGS: PARM PREL UNSC LH SUBJECT: LITHUANIA SUPPORTS U.S. POSITION ON IRAN REF: SECSTATE 9124 Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Damian Leader for reasons 1.4(B) and ( D). ¶1. (U) ACTION REQUEST - see paragraph 4. ¶2. (C) Ambassador delivered reftel talking points on January 29 to MFA's Acting Foreign Minister (AFM) Rasa Jukneviciene, Vice Minister Asta Skaisgiryte, Political Director Eitvydas Bajarunas and Second Secretary Donatas Vainalavicius. The AFM expressed her firm support of our position saying that Lithuania and the U.S. "are and will be together on this issue." She elaborated that as a former Member of Parliament she received briefings on Iran that were "detailed and pessimistic." She stated that the same threats are still present today. She said that an EU working group will meet during the first week of February to discuss possible EU action. Jukneviciene asked us to keep the MFA updated on progress in the UNSC since the GOL is not a member of the council. She asked us (frankly) if a new UNSCR would have the desired impact on Iran. Ambassador Derse responded that the U.S. wants to supplement the proposed UNSCR with additional actions that we could implement, together with partners, on a coordinated national basis. ¶3. (C) In additiona to Ambassador's demarche on AFM Jukneviciene, Charge also discussed reftel points on February 2 with the President's Chief Foreign Policy Advisor Darius Semaska. Semaska said he was already briefed by the AFM and there was no distance between the presidency and her on dealing with Iran. ¶4. (SBU) Action Request: The AFM asked the Ambassador what additional sanctions the U.S. is considering for Iran. We would appreciate talking points on proposed sanctions that we can share with the MFA. LEADER