US embassy cable - 05ACCRA1885

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 001885 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2010 
TAGS: KNNP, PARM, PREL, IR, TRGY, MNUC, ENRG, AORC, GH, IAEA 
SUBJECT: IAEA DECISION ON IRAN: GHANA SYMPATHETIC BUT NOT 
READY TO COMMIT TO U.S. POSITION 
 
REF: A. STATE 168950 
     B. STATE 159113 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Jerry Lanier for Reasons 1.5 (B and D) 
 
Summary 
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1. (C) On September 15, Charge and EconChief delivered Ref A 
points on reporting Iran to the UN Security Council to the 
Foreign Ministry.  EconChief also delivered these points and 
Ref B points on safeguards and verification to GoG 
representatives to the IAEA.  Deputy Foreign Minister Kwasi 
Osei-Adjei said Ghana would "do the right thing" and promised 
to pass our concerns to President Kufuor.  Ghana's IAEA 
representative, Professor Daniel Bekoe, agreed negotiations 
with Iran have gone on too long, but highlighted differences 
between the U.S. and EU3 positions and stated Ghana would 
need to hear from Iran before making a decision.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) Charge Jerry Lanier delivered Ref A talking points and 
background material to Deputy Foreign Minister Osei-Adjei, 
urging GoG support for the U.S./EU3 position that it is time 
for the IAEA to report Iran to the UNSC.  Osei-Adjei said 
Ghana fully supported efforts to keep nuclear weapons out of 
the hands of irresponsible parties, and the U.S. could count 
on Ghana to "do the right thing."  He promised to convey the 
U.S. position (and non-paper) to President Kufuor's party, 
which is now in New York City to attend the UN High Level 
meeting. 
 
3. (C) EconChief Chris Landberg delivered Ref A points on 
Iran as well as Ref B points on the IAEA Committee on 
Safeguards and Verification to Professor Daniel Bekoe, 
Chairman of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), and 
the GoG's representative to the IAEA Board of Governors. 
(Note:  Bekoe is also Chairman of the Council of State, an 
advisory body to the Executive branch.  End Note).  The 
Director General of the GAEC, Professor Akaho, as well as a 
Foreign Ministry representative also participated in the 
meeting.  Both Bekoe and Akaho depart Ghana September 16 to 
attend the upcoming IAEA Board of Governors meeting. 
 
4. (C) EconChief emphasized U.S. support for the EU3 
position, outlined the legal basis under which the IAEA Board 
of Governors can report Iran to the IAEA, and stressed that 
the U.S. fully supports peaceful use of nuclear technology. 
Professor Bekoe's response was more nuanced than that of the 
Foreign Ministry.  He agreed that negotiations with Iran had 
gone on for too long, but highlighted differences he 
perceived between the U.S. and EU3 positions. 
 
5. (C) Bekoe said he met on September 14 with the UK's 
representative to the IAEA Board of Governors, who was 
visiting Ghana.  Bekoe commented that his impression 
following that meeting was that the EU3 position appeared to 
leave some room for continuing negotiations without reporting 
Iran to the UNSC.  GAEC Director General Akaho read from the 
talking points the UK official left behind, and argued that 
the EU3 position seemed to encourage Iran to return to 
negotiations.  Bekoe added that it appeared the EU3 was open 
to delaying an IAEA decision to report Iran to the UNSC if 
Iran agrees to resume negotiations and suspend enrichment of 
uranium, production of plutonium, and similar activities. 
Whereas the U.S. position seemed to be the IAEA MUST report 
Iran to the UNSC now. 
 
6. (C) Bekoe stated that Ghana would need to hear from Iran 
before making a final decision.  In particular, he wanted to 
get Iran's reaction to the IAEA Director General's recent 
report that there have been clear breaches of the NPT.  Bekoe 
agreed that it did not appear likely that Iran would resume 
negotiations in good faith.  He also seemed to agree that a 
more likely scenario is Iran would continue to exploit 
differences on the IAEA Board of Governors and try to keep 
the possibility of negotiations open, just to delay the 
process and avoid UNSC involvement.  Nevertheless, Bekoe did 
not explicitly state that the IAEA should report Iran to the 
UNSC if there is Board of Governor's agreement that 
negotiations are over. 
 
7. (SBU) Professors Bekoe and Akaho expressed full support 
for the establishment of an IAEA Committee on Safeguards and 
Verification, and promised to provide any comments they have 
during the upcoming IAEA Board of Governors meeting. 
 
Comment 
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8. (C) Emboffs conveyed Ref A messages in as strong a tone as 
possible.  We appear to have support at the political level, 
but the technical-level officials who actually represent 
Ghana to the IAEA are still hedging their position, pending 
further discussions in Vienna.  Professors Bekoe and Akaho 
certainly are fed-up with Iran actions over the last few 
years, but would prefer to find a solution that continues 
negotiations and holds off on taking this to the level of the 
UNSC.  While we expect the Ghanaian leadership now in New 
York to raise this issue with Professor Bekoe, we cannot be 
certain that they will instruct Bekoe to support reporting 
Iran to the UNSC, or at least not prior to the IAEA Board of 
Governors meeting.  End Comment 
 
LANIER