US embassy cable - 03AMMAN1881

S E C R E T AMMAN 001881 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2013 
TAGS: PREL, MOPS, EPET, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: TFIZ01: MUASHER SAYS STORY ON RESUMPTION OF OIL 
TANKER TRAFFIC BETWEEN JORDAN AND IRAQ MOST LIKELY NOT TRUE 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Doug Silliman for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D) 
 
1.  (S)  The Ambassador raised with Foreign Minister Marwan 
Muasher March 29 local press reports that as many as thirty 
Jordanian oil tanker trucks have returned to Iraq to restart 
the delivery of Iraqi crude to Jordan.  The Ambassador said 
he found the reports beyond comprehension.  In response to a 
specific Jordanian request two days ago to resume deliveries 
of Iraqi crude via road, we had told them that we could not 
agree to any heavy truck traffic on the Amman-Baghdad highway 
moving east to west.  The Ambassador commented that, in fact, 
he had checked with the U.S. military in the region and did 
not believe that tankers had actually gone back to Iraq.  He 
asked for confirmation from the GOJ that this was correct. 
 
2.  (S)  He repeated warnings that it would be extremely 
dangerous for tanker trucks to try to resume crude oil 
deliveries.  Fighting continued in western Iraq.  Coalition 
forces dominated the area, but have not yet secured the 
Amman-Baghdad highway, nor the road to the oil loading 
terminal near H-1.  Further, the Ambassador pointed out the 
dire consequences to U.S.-Jordanian relations if coalition or 
Iraqi forces were accidentally to kill a Jordanian oil truck 
driver.  The public outcry would be almost uncontrollable. 
The GOJ would find itself in an impossible position.  The 
damage from such an incident would far outweigh any gain 
Jordan would receive by resuming a small fraction of its oil 
imports from Iraq -- imports not needed since alternate 
sources had been secured. 
 
3.  (S)  Muasher said he did not believe the reports to be 
true, but pledged he would check into them and respond 
quickly.  He agreed that the risks of restarting land transit 
of Iraqi oil under the current conditions far outweighed the 
possible benefits. 
 
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COMMENT 
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4.  (S)  Our military colleagues in Task Force - West report 
that no Jordanian oil tankers have crossed the Iraqi border 
in recent days.  While it appears that this press story may 
not be true, we felt it necessary to set down a strong marker 
against any resumption of oil shipments to Jordan while 
hostilities are ongoing in Iraq.  From a more long-term 
perspective, the Ambassador reminded the Foreign Minister 
that a mutually agreed condition to our supplemental economic 
assistance was an end to Jordanian dependency on "subsidized" 
Iraqi oil. 
GNEHM