06RABAT2149 Date21/11/2006 10:41 OriginEmbassy Rabat
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VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB
DE
RUEHRB #2149/01 3251041
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 211041Z NOV 06
FM
AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5231
INFO
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA IMMEDIATE 0045
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN
NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0642
Content
S E C R E T RABAT 002149
SIPDIS
NOFORN
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG, ISN, IO
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2016
TAGS: PARM, PINR, KNNP,
IR, MO
SUBJECT: IRAN BRIEFING: MOROCCO OPPOSED TO IRAN'S NUCLEAR
WEAPONS
QUEST
REF: A. (A) STATE 184153
B. (B) STATE 182904
C. (C) STATE 188260
D. (D) RABAT 2103
Classified By: Classified by Craig Karp
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
1.(S) SUMMARY: Ambassador
reviewed Iran's quest for nuclear
weapons capabilities and
international efforts to counter it
with MFA Secretary General
[Omar] Hilale on November 16, and COS
shared parallel sensitive
briefing. Hilale was engaged and
appreciative of the
briefing. He said Morocco shared our
concerns about
Iran. He pledged that Morocco would support
keeping Iran from
nuclear weapons, and cooperate on this at
the IAEA. While
countries had a right to nuclear technology,
this right was limited
by their non-proliferation
obligations. A nuclear-armed Iran
would be a disaster for
the region, and specifically for
Morocco. It would trigger
an arms race that would accelerate
what he described as
Algeria's similar, though nascent, pursuit of a
military
nuclear program. END SUMMARY.
2.(S)
Ambassador, accompanied by COS and PolCouns called on
MFA
Secretary-General Omar Hilale November 16. Hilale was
accompanied
by MFA International multilateral and security
organization Chief
Azzedine Farhane. With the Minister and
Minister-delegate
away, Hilale was the top MFA official in
Morocco.
3.(S)
Ambassador opened by thanking Hilale for his
instrumental role in
the first meeting of the Initial
Partners of the Global Initiative
Against Nuclear Terrorism.
Hilale reiterated Morocco's commitment to
the Initiative, as
shown by its hosting. In fact, he had
received a protest
from the Iranian ambassador of the exclusion of
Iranian
television from the opening session. He had obliged
them by
giving an interview to Iranian television in which he
stressed,
as he had in the press conference, that the
Initiative would not be
directed against any country, but
against terrorism.
4.
(S) Ambassador then briefed on U.S. concerns about Iran's
pursuit
of nuclear weapons capabilities and the diplomatic
response of the
international community, using the points in
Paras. 4-6 ref.
(A). He then introduced the COS, who
provided the referenced
sensitive briefing. We also provided
a non-paper with the
points in Para. 5 along with an info
copy of the supplemental
information contained in ref. (B).
5. (S) Hilale
thanked the U.S. for providing this
information. He said that
Morocco supported the right of any
party to the NPT to peaceful use
of nuclear energy as laid
out in Article 4 of the NPT. That article
also contains
obligations, however. Moreover, the right to
nuclear energy
should not/not be given precedence over the
obligation of
nonproliferation, or becoming a new nuclear weapons
state.
Authors of this article were very wise, he continued,
insisting
that nonproliferation safeguards must be preserved.
Morocco
believes that under the article, states-parties have
direct
obligations to the IAEA.
6. (S) Hilale said Iran's quest
was not only about a
country's rights, but also about international
and regional
security. He indicated that Morocco was utterly
opposed to
Iran's acquisition of a nuclear weapons capability.
Referring
to the Wider Middle East, he said no one can accept
that this
region would have another nuclear power. In an
apparent
reference to Iranian remarks about Israel, Hilale
said that at the
IAEA, Morocco would maintain that the right
of existence of all
countries must be accepted by any state
before it could claim a
right to nuclear power. He hoped the
international community
would succeed in convincing Iran to
desist by negotiation or "by all
means," open to the
international community and justified by
international law.
7. (S) Ambassador drew Hilale's
attention to a piece recently
in the local press by a French expert,
who said that a
nuclear armed Iran would in practice be more of a
threat to
its Arab neighbors than to the U.S. or Israel.
Hilale
concurred, saying that Iranian nuclear weapons capability
would
prompt its Arab neighbors to seek one as well. This
would
have a direct negative impact on Morocco's security,
said Hilale,
citing his country's long-standing concerns
about the lack of
transparency and military links of the
nuclear research program of
Morocco's neighbor and rival,
Algeria. If Iran succeeds,
within ten years other Middle
Eastern counties will have a bomb and
the Algerians will
follow soon after, he said.
8.
(S) Hilale, familiar with arms control issues from his
days as
Moroccan Ambassador in Geneva, was closely engaged in
the briefing,
asking for clarification of some of the
technical details. He
also asked whether Iran had acquired
much of the technology for its
program internationally.
PolCouns responded that Iran had for many
years sought
technology both overtly and covertly, its efforts
ranging
across Europe and Asia. It had admitted to the IAEA
about
its commerce with the A.Q. Khan network of Pakistan, although
the
full details were among many unanswered questions about
its
program. Questions continued to arise, as indicated by
the
recent publicly reported discovery by IAEA inspectors of
unexplained
plutonium particles.
9. (S) Hilale pledged Morocco would
be stalwart at IAEA.
Farhane noted that Morocco was aware of Iran's
current quest
for reactor technical assistance from the IAEA and
viewed it
with great skepticism (Note: Ref. C had not yet been
received).
The Moroccan mission in Vienna would be ready to
consult with the
US Mission there on this and other matters.
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Riley