POLAND SUPPORTS INCREASED PRESSURE ON IRAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 000067 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CE, NEA/FO, ISN/RA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2020 TAGS: PARM PREL UNSC PL IR SUBJECT: POLAND SUPPORTS INCREASED PRESSURE ON IRAN REF: STATE 9124 Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR DAN SAINZ FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D ) ¶1. (C) Poland is prepared to increase pressure on Tehran in a bid to thwart Iran's efforts to build an indigenous nuclear weapons capability. Stanislaw Gulinski, filling in for regular MFA Iran desk officer Piotr Kozlowski, agreed with points in reftel demarche that it was time to step up the pressure on Iran. Gulinski emphasized that Poland had long backed specific penalties, including additional sanctions, if Iran failed to respond concretely to U.S. and EU diplomacy. He expressed appreciation for the U.S. proposal to target the regime, and not the general population, in additional sanctions. ¶2. (C) Gulinski called for separating the nonproliferation issue from Iran's domestic political situation. He emphasized that the West should not appear to meddle in Iran's internal affairs, giving the regime a pretext for lashing out at opposition "pawns" of outside influence. FEINSTEIN