From: <a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/spesial/wikileaksdokumenter/article3988312.ece">Aftenposten</a>
and <a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/spesial/wikileaksdokumenter/article3988383.ece">Aftenposten</a><br>
Date: 2009-12-30
<p>
<pre>

S E C R E T ASTANA 002257 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR ISN, SCA/CEN 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/30/2029
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PARM, MNUC, KNNP, IR, JA, KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTANS INITIAL RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE TO PREVENT
THE TRANSFER OF URANIUM TO IRAN 
REF: SECSTATE 131723 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland: 1.4 (B), (D) 

1. (S) SUMMARY: The government of Kazakhstan initially
respondedQeptically to a U.S. non-paper alleging that Iran is
negotiating to buy a large amount of yellowcake uranium from
KazAtomProm, but promised to undertake a serious investigation
and report its findings to Embassy Astana. It is possible the
investigation will be slightly slowed because the Kazakhstani
government closes early on December 31 in observance of New
Year and will not re-open again until January 4. END SUMMARY.

2. (S) In response to December 29 e-mailed information from
USUN Vienna that the Associated Press (AP) was about to
publish a report alleging that Iran was in the late stages of
negotiating to buy a very large quantity of yellowcake uranium
from an entity in Kazakhstan associated with KazAtomProm
(KAP), the Department instructed the Ambassador to raise the
matter urgently in Astana at the highest possible level. On
December 29, the Ambassador met with State Secretary-Foreign
Minister Kanat Saudabayev, a close confidante of President
Nursultan Nazarbayev. The Ambassador passed to Saudabayev the
as yet unpublished AP report and told him that if this is
true, it is a huge problem, a violation of UNSCR 1737, a
violation of the principles of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (of
which Kazakhstan is a member), and would seriously harm the
U.S.-Kazakhstan relationship. The Ambassador asked Saudabayev
to bring this report urgently to the attention of the proper
officials in the government of Kazakhstan.

3. (S) Saudabayev said, "My initial response is nyet, nyet,
and nyet. This cannot be true. Give me the full report and we
will follow up and look into every detail. If this is true, it
would violate the principles of our policy since independence.
We have always been the strongest supporters of
non-proliferation. Please give us complete details soonest,
and we will investigate fully."

4. (S) With the AP report having appeared later on December
29, the Ambassador delivered on December 30 to Deputy Foreign
Minister Kairat Umarov, who had been in the previous days
meeting, the U.S. interagency-cleared non-paper from para
eight of reftel. Umarov said that following the December 29
meeting, the Foreign Ministry had immediately gotten in touch
with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral ResQces (MEMR), which
is responsible for KAP. According to Umarov, MEMRs initial
response was that such a large volume of yellowcake uranium
could not be transferred without notice. Kazakhstan maintains
a strong export control regime and stringent control of its
ports. There has been and there will be no negotiations with
Iran on something this sensitive. It is not credible, MEMR
added, that rogue individuals could be involved because
Kazakhstan maintains strict government control over its
uranium stocks. Umarov added that KAP expects to release an
initial response to the AP report later on December 30.

5. (S) Umarov added that the Foreign Ministrys initial
response on December 29 had been that the AP report must be
"false information." With fuller information from the
non-paper, the government of Kazakhstan will continue to
investigate, but, he said, it would be easier if we could
provide more detailed information. He also asked that we
provide a read-out of any response from the government of
Japan. The Ambassador urged that the government of Kazakhstan
take this matter with the utmost seriousness and provide a
full account of its investigation, preferably no later than
January 5. (NOTE: It is possible the investigation will be
slightly slowed because the Kazakhstani government, except for
essential services, closes early on December 31 in observance
of New Year and will not re-open again until January 4. END
NOTE.)

6. (S) GRPOQesented the same non-paper to appropriate
counterparts and strongly encouraged them to investigate
thoroughly.

7. (SBU) On December 30, the Interfax-Kazakhstan News Agency,
citing the AP report published by the "Guardian" in the UK,
broke the story in Kazakhstan. A spokesman of the government
of Kazakhstan responded that all of its uranium activities
fully comply with IAEA safeguards, and is investigating the
report. An official response will be forthcoming within a few
days, the spokesman said.

8. (S) COMMENT: Because the AP report was datelined Vienna
where ex-First Son-in-Law Rakhat Aliyev is believed to be in
exile, the initial knee-jerk reaction of some in the
government of Kazakhstan was likely that this must be one more
attempt by Aliyev to blacken Kazakhstans image. However, we
believe the government of Kazakhstan is fully aware of the
seriousness of this report and its potential ramifications and
will investigate it fully. Any futher detail that we might be
able to provide would assist in that investigation. END COMMENT.
</pre>