US embassy cable - 05BERLIN2235

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FM FISCHER ON IRAN

Identifier: 05BERLIN2235
Wikileaks: View 05BERLIN2235 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Berlin
Created: 2005-07-01 13:37:00
Classification: SECRET
Tags: IAEA KNNP MNUC PREL EU IR GM
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
O 011337Z JUL 05
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7737
INFO AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 
CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 
USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA PRIORITY 
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 
S E C R E T BERLIN 002235 
 
DEPT FOR T, NP, AC, EUR/AGS, EUR/PRA, AND NEA/NGA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2015 
TAGS: IAEA, KNNP, MNUC, PREL, EU, IR, GM 
SUBJECT: FM FISCHER ON IRAN 
 
Classified By: Acting Pol M/C Kris Pelz; reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) 
 
 
1.  (S)  During a meeting on June 29 with visiting New Mexico 
Governor Bill Richardson, Foreign Minister Fischer said he 
was extremely concerned about Iran after the election of 
President Ahmadinejad.  He said no one expected Ahmadinejad's 
victory, least of all Iranian negotiators on the nuclear 
issue who Fischer said were "in shock" after the election 
results came in.  Fischer said German policy would be driven 
by the concrete steps taken by the Iranian government over 
the next several months.  He emphasized that an Iran with a 
nuclear weapons capability is unacceptable.  Fischer added 
that Iran wants to acquire an enrichment capability, but its 
nuclear program does not make sense in civilian terms.  He 
said the technology they are pursuing has long been outmoded 
as a source of peaceful nuclear energy.   Fischer also noted 
that the Iranian missile program is not aimed at delivering 
conventional warheads. 
 
2.  (S) Fischer added that closer American cooperation with 
the EU-3 in recent months had boosted the West's leverage 
with Iran.  President Bush's meeting with Chancellor 
Schroeder this week in Washington had, in Fischer's view, 
gone well.   However, Fischer emphasized that the outlook for 
Iran is "grim."  Iran's desire to acquire nuclear weapons and 
its rejectionist policy toward Israel both present huge 
problems, he said.  Israel's reaction to current 
circumstances in Iran is unclear, he said, further 
complicating the situation.  Fischer noted that sanctions on 
Iran would send the price of oil much higher, with huge 
consequences for the world economy.  According to Fischer, 
only the closest possible cooperation between Europe and the 
United States offers hope for a solution.  Even with close 
cooperation, he said, the outlook is very uncertain. 
 
 
CLOUD 

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