US embassy cable - 05PARIS7398

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 007398 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, PHUM, IR, FR 
SUBJECT: GOF CONDEMNS IRANIAN PRESIDENT'S ANTI-ISRAEL 
RHETORIC, CONVOKES IRANIAN AMBASSADOR 
 
REF: STATE 199225 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR JOSIAH ROSENBLATT, FOR REAS 
ONS 1.4 B/D 
 
1. (C) Poloff met October 28 with Benoit Knopper, the MFA's 
desk officer for Iran, to deliver reftel talking points on 
the Iranian President's increasing extremism.  Knopper noted 
the GOF's statements condemning the Iranian President's 
rhetoric.  Furthermore, Knopper said, the MFA had convoked in 
the morning of October 27 Sadegh Kharazzi, the Iranian 
Ambassador to France, for "clarifications" regarding 
President Ahmadi-Nejad's October 25 call for Israel to be 
"wiped off the map."  Informal translations of FM 
Douste-Blazy's statement, an MFA statement, and President 
Chirac's statement are at paras 3, 4, 5, respectively. 
 
2. (C) Poloff also raised Ahmadi-Nejad's statement and the 
GOF reaction during a discussion on other issues with Herve 
Besancenot, the MFA's DAS-equivalent for Egypt and the 
Levant.  Besancenot said the MFA had been "very tough" during 
its demarche to the Iranian Ambassador.  Still, Besancenot 
said he could not imagine France joining Israel's reported 
call for Iran's exclusion from the UN.  According to 
Besancenot, Israeli FM Shalom never called for Iran's 
exclusion during a private meeting and subsequent press 
conference with FM Douste-Blazy on October 27 (septel).  When 
asked about President Chirac's statement (see para 5) in 
which he said Iran was at risk of being banished from the 
international community due to Ahmadi-Nejad's comments, 
Besancenot said Chirac was referring to Iran isolating 
itself; this did not mean that France would push to isolate 
Iran. 
 
3. (U) Informal translation of FM Douste-Blazy's October 26 
statement: 
 
"If these statements (of President Ahmadi-Nejad) are in fact 
reported correctly, they are unacceptable.  I condemn them 
with the greatest firmness.  I have demanded that the Iranian 
Ambassador in Paris be convoked to the Quai d'Orsay in order 
to obtain explanations.  For France, Israel's right to exist 
can never be contested." 
 
4. (U) Informal translation of the MFA's October 27 press 
statement: 
 
"As the Minister (Douste-Blazy) demanded, the Iranian 
Ambassador in Paris, Mr. Sadegh Kharrazi, was convoked this 
morning to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  He was asked for 
clarifications regarding the speech given the day before by 
his president on the occasion of a conference in Teheran on 
the theme "The world without Zionism" in which the president 
called for "wiping Israel off the map." 
 
The Ambassador was reminded that Israel's right to exist 
cannot be contested.  The Israeli-Palestinian question cannot 
serve as a pretext for questioning this fundamental right. 
We repeated our condemnation to him of President 
Ahmadinejad's remarks.  The Ambassador took note of our 
demarche and indicated that he would relay it to his 
authorities." 
 
5. (U) Informal translation of President Chirac's October 27 
statement at the informal European Summit at Hampton Roads: 
 
"...I was profoundly shocked by the declarations of the 
Iranian president.  I find them, frankly, insane and 
irresponsible.  The Iranian president is running the risk of 
his country being banished from the international community; 
which is, for a great country like Iran, an unacceptable 
situation.  This being said, there has also been an EU 
declaration led by the British presidency, which has been 
approved and should be being distributed right now." 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
Hofmann