US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI8891

C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 008891 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/22/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PARM, KNNP, AORC, IN, IR, India_Iran 
SUBJECT: IRAN DEMARCHE DELIVERED, EU-3 ALSO PUSHING 
 
REF: STATE 212969 
 
Classified By: Charge Robert O. Blake for Reasons 1.4 (B, D) 
 
1.  (C) PolCouns delivered reftel demarche to Joint Secretary 
(Disarmament and International Security) Hamid Ali Rao on 
November 23, emphasizing the importance of India conveying 
through a strong national statement that the international 
community remains seriously concerned about Iran's nuclear 
program.  Rao accepted our approach but offered no preview of 
GOI plans.  Pressed by PolCouns on New Delhi's willingness to 
deliver a strong statement, Rao commented "the Iranians know 
the September 24 resolution is there," suggesting that the 
GOI is reluctant to deploy any further public pressure at a 
time when Indian domestic politics are seized with the IAEA 
issue. 
 
EU-3 Demarche to Foreign Secretary 
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2.  (C) The EU-3 Ambassadors paralleled our approach to MEA's 
DISA division in a November 23 call on Foreign Secretary 
Shyam Saran.  The UK High Commissioner, in particular, echoed 
our call for the GOI to offer a robust statement at the BOG 
meeting that does not appear to exculpate Tehran.  Speaking 
to PolCouns, the EU-3 heads of mission reported a general 
sense of relief on the part of the Foreign Secretary that 
India would not face the politically uncomfortable prospect 
of another IAEA vote.  The German Ambassador reported that 
the Indians believed, based on their own engagement with 
Iran, that Tehran was open to the idea of suspension, but 
only on their own terms.  It was important, the German said, 
that Iran be allowed to chart its own course.  The EU-3 also 
reported that Saran was seized with the danger of appearing 
to punish Iran for its acts of transparency.  For instance, 
since Iran has now acknowledged the AQ Khan network's 
provision of design details for casting uranium hemispheres, 
that should not now become part of the dossier used to assail 
Iranian non-compliance with its NPT obligations. 
 
3.  (C) A UK High Commission contact gave D/PolCouns a 
further readout of the EU-3 Ambassadors' meeting with FS 
Saran, stating that the EU-3's demarche asked India to ensure 
that Iran was not let off the hook during national statements 
on November 24.  Our contact reported that Saran agreed that 
the September 24 resolution remained valid, but cautioned 
that further pressure on Iran was not the right tactic now 
given that the IAEA had said Iran had done some of the right 
things; India felt excessive negative pressure now could be 
counterproductive.  Saran assured the EU-3 that New Delhi is 
not backing away from its September 24 stance, however, and 
intends to urge Iran to take more positive steps toward 
cooperation with the IAEA.  The Foreign Secretary also 
inquired about EU-3 next steps, our UK contact told us, and 
heard that the Europeans will continue to try to engage Iran 
in "talks on talks" to restart the negotiations.  Our UK 
contact commented that the EU-3 are confident India would be 
plenty tough in raising AQ Khan's role in Iran's nuclear 
program, but that Indian pressure on Iran itself at this 
stage might be modest. 
BLAKE