US embassy cable - 05PARIS1225

S E C R E T PARIS 001225 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2015 
TAGS: KNNP, PARM, PREL, TRGY, MNUC, IR, UK, FR, IAEA, GE 
SUBJECT: IRAN-EU3: FEBRUARY 24 MEETING BETWEEN FRENCH 
PRESIDENT CHIRAC AND IRANIAN NUCLEAR NEGOTIATOR HASSAN 
RUHANI 
 
 
Classified By: Political Minister/Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt for reaso 
ns 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  SUMMARY. Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Ruhani, 
on one stop of a tour that will include visits to each EU3 
capital, met with French President Jacques Chirac February 
24.  Chirac's Middle East advisor, Dominique Boche, told us 
that Ruhani's purpose was to move the discussions from the 
technical to the political level.  According to Boche, Chirac 
was firm with Ruhani, calling for objective guarantees that 
Iran's nuclear program will not be used to develop weapons. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (S) Boche said that Ruhani had requested the meeting with 
Chirac and was employing a familiar Iranian tactic of trying 
to move a technical negotiation to the political level. 
Boche said that by "politicizing" the talks, in this case 
taking them to the highest political echelon, the Iranians 
hoped to maximize the chances of an outcome most favorable to 
them.  Boche added that he thought Ruhani would do the same 
in London and Berlin. 
 
3.  (S) According to Boche, Chirac was firm in response to 
Ruhani, calling for "objective guarantees" by Iran and 
"permanent measures" to ensure that Iran does not develop 
nuclear weapons.  Boche said that to achieve this objective, 
Chirac told Ruhani that France is prepared to engage in a 
"global dialogue" with Iran, recognizing its importance in 
the region.  Boche added that Chirac told Ruhani that Iran 
needs to "join up with the new reality in the region."  Boche 
said, however, that the next steps are to continue with the 
technical negotiations between Iran and the EU3. 
 
4.  (S) Boche said that the GOF is eager to learn the U.S. 
reaction to the recent discussion between President Bush and 
Chirac including the proposals for aircraft sales to Iran and 
Iranian WTO candidacy as potential incentives in the Iran - 
EU3 negotiations. 
 
5.  (U) While no official statements about the meeting have 
been released, presidential spokesman Jerome Bonnafont told 
reporters that Chirac called for Iranian guarantees that it 
would not use its nuclear program for military purposes and 
said that Tehran stands to gain international cooperation on 
its civil nuclear program as well as in the areas of trade, 
politics and security if it does.  Ruhani, meanwhile, granted 
an interview to the French daily Le Monde to be published in 
its February 26 issue.  In the interview Ruhani accused the 
Europeans of being "incapable of keeping promises" saying 
that they have done nothing to help Iran acquire Airbus 
airplanes or gain entry in the WTO.  He said that the 
negotiations are going slower than Iran had hoped and added 
that the principal problem is coming to an understanding of 
the term "objective guarantees," which Iran interprets 
differently than the EU3.  When asked if Iran was building 
tunnels to hide its nuclear technology, Ruhani said it "could 
be true." 
Wolff