US embassy cable - 05ALGIERS692

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000692 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KNNP, AG, IR, IAEA 
SUBJECT: BOUTEFLIKA URGES IRANIAN COOPERATION ON NUCLEAR 
ISSUES 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard W. Erdman; reasons 1.4 (B)(D) 
 
 1. (C) Ambassador took advantage of April 5 meeting on other 
issues with Presidential Chief of Staff Belkheir to   inquire 
about the April 2-4 visit to Algeria of Iranian Defense 
Minister Shamkhani.  Belkheir said the visit was part of a 
programmed exchange of bilateral visits, reciprocated the 
visit of former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lamari to Iran a 
year ago, and took place after being postponed once or twice 
for various reasons.  Asked what message Algeria sought to 
convey during the visit, Belkheir said President Bouteflika 
sought to encourage dialogue, a responsive Iranian stance on 
the nuclear issue, and a general calming of tensions 
surrounding the issue. 
 
2. (C) According to Belkheir, Bouteflifka specifically urged 
Iran to be responsive to Western overtures and to cooperate 
in finding an acceptable solution, specifically citing 
explicit U.S. support for the UK/French/German efforts to 
achieve an acceptable negotiated solution as well as the 
U.S.'s new willingness to support Iran's accession to the 
World Trade Organization and to supply aircraft spare parts. 
These were significant gestures, Bouteflika repeatedly 
stressed, and Iran should find a way to respond positively to 
them. 
 
3. (C) Ambassador reminded Belkheir that it was not just the 
United States that was concerned about Iran's intentions. 
France, the UK, and Germany were concerned as well, and the 
IAEA, in its most recent report, had referred to "a 
confidence gap" regarding Iran's nuclear activities.  One 
could not take Iranian protestations of innocence at face 
value in view of its two decades of concealing its activities 
from the IAEA and continuing failure to be forthright with 
the IAEA.  Iranian development of a nuclear weapons 
capability would be profoundly destabilizing for the region, 
and we could not afford to get it wrong.  We were not opposed 
to the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 
We were opposed and concerned about efforts to develop a 
nuclear weapons capability under the cover of a civilian 
nuclear program.  We wanted a diplomatic solution to the 
issue but it had to be a real and verifiable solution that 
addressed international proliferation concerns. 
 
4. (C) Belkheir agreed that Iran's nuclear activities needed 
to be carefully monitored to ensure compliance.  In response 
to a question, he said that the specific issue of uranium 
enrichment did not come up.  The discussion was at a more 
general level, with Shamkhani asserting Iran's peaceful 
nuclear intentions and Bouteflika urging responsiveness to 
Western and IAEA concerns.  Belkheir said Bouteflika would 
have a private dinner with Iranian President Khatami that 
evening (April 5) in Paris, where both men were attending a 
UNESCO conference, and would continue to press for Iranian 
responsiveness and cooperation vis-a-vis Western concerns. 
 
5. (SBU) In terms of the public aspects of the visit, the 
Iranian News Agency reported Bouteflika as saying April 3 
that mutual relations with Iran and the exchange of 
high-ranking delegations at various levels showed the 
willingness of the two countries' leaders to promote ties. 
The same report indicated that Bouteflika had emphasized the 
willingness of Algeria to implement the agreements signed 
during Bouteflika's visit to Iran last year and Khatami's 
recent return visit to Algeria.  Shamkhani reportedly 
underscored the geo-political significance of Algeria in the 
Maghreb and Africa and called for the expansion of relations 
between Iran and Algeria.  He also briefed on Iran's defense 
and military capabilities and noted that Iran was ready to 
provide Algeria with various defense equipment. 
 
6. (SBU) Algerian press reports noted that Shamkhani's visit 
was the third of three high-level Iranian visits to Algeria 
over the past year, including the visits of President Khatami 
last October (2004) and of Iranian National Security Council 
Adviser Ruhani this spring.  These same accounts have played 
up Algeria's (self-assumed) role as a country which has the 
ear of both the U.S. and Iran and which is thus 
well-positioned to play a calming role on the nuclear issue. 
Citing non-official sources, the Algerian press also said 
Shamkhani carried a message from senior Iranian officials 
stressing Iran's attachment to its right to develop its 
nuclear capacities for peaceful purposes.  Shamkhani told 
Algerian television his visit achieved &good results8 and 
was &a positive step towards cooperation between the two 
fraternal countries...8 
 
ERDMAN