#news Iran a focal point of documents

Robert Gates's message to Frattini is hardly different from what he has said publicly. Close

By LAURA ROZEN | 11/28/10 5:58 PM EST Updated: 11/28/10 6:28 PM EST

Sensitive diplomatic discussions on how to deal with Iran's nuclear program are among the more-than-250,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables news organizations obtained from WikiLeaks and reported on Sunday.

But while there are some surprises in the raw cables reviewed so far — U.S. anger at Armenia’s alleged weapons transfers to Iran that were implicated in the killing of U.S. forces in Iraq; the Saudi king allegedly urging the United States to deal with Iran militarily - one is struck overall that the classified diplomatic discussions on Iran revealed in the cables are not all that different from what one would expect from following the public comments senior U.S. officials have made on the Iran issue the last several months.

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In a February 2010 meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini,for instance, Defense Secretary Bob Gates "emphasized that a [U.N. Security Council] resolution was important because it would give the European Union and nations a legal platform on which to impose even harsher sanctions against Iran," a Feb. 8, 2010 Secret/No Foreign cable written by Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Alexander Vershbow relayed.

"SecDef pointedly warned that urgent action is required," the cable continued. "Without progress in the next few months, we risk nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, war prompted by an Israeli strike, or both. SecDef predicted 'a different world' in 4-5 years if Iran developed nuclear weapons."

While the cable offers an insider’s notes on the meeting, its account of Gates' message to the Italian foreign minister is hardly different from what Gates has said publicly on the issue at many points.

In contrast, some of the cables reported on by the Guardian on Sunday suggest the U.S. has come under more concerted Arab pressure behind closed doors, including from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, to deal with Iran militarily than public statements would suggest.

Saudi King Abdullah has "frequently exhorted the U.S. to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons programme," the Guardian cited one U.S. cable.

"He told you [Americans] to cut off the head of the snake," said Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, according to a report on Abdullah's meeting with Gen. David Petraeus in April 2008.

While senior Saudi Arabian officials have publicly expressed skepticism that international sanctions would be sufficient to curtail Iran's nuclear program and its alleged efforts to destabilize regional states, they have mostly refrained from publicly calling for military action against Iran — although such views have been described as having been privately expressed to senior American officials by the Saudis and other Arab states, Washington Iran watchers have said.

"Sanctions are a long-term solution" for Iran's nuclear program, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal said in a joint news conference with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Riyadh in February 2010. "But we see the issue in the shorter term."

The cables also report in detail on U.S. diplomatic consultations with Turkey, including over its relations with Iran, Syria, and Israel.

William Burns, the U.S. under-secretary of State for Political Affairs, "strongly urged [Turkish Foreign Ministry Under Secretary Feridun] Sinirlioglu to support action to convince the Iranian government it is on the wrong course," according to a February 2010 cable written by then U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jim Jeffrey.

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"Burns acknowledged Turkey's exposure to the economic effects of sanctions as a neighbor to Iran, but reminded Sinirlioglu Turkish interests would suffer if Israel were to act militarily to forestall Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons or if Egypt and Saudi Arabia were to seek nuclear arsenals of their own," the Jeffrey cable continued. "’We'll keep the door open to engagement,’ [Burns] stressed. A visibly disheartened Sinirlioglu conceded a unified message is important. He acknowledged the countries of the region perceive Iran as a growing threat: ‘Alarm bells are ringing even in Damascus.’"

A 2008 cable – transmitting a letter from then-Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to senior Armenian officials -- reveals that the United States was furious at Armenia for allegedly transferring arms to Iran that the U.S. said were used in attacks that killed U.S. forces in Iraq.

"Secretary [of State Condoleezza] Rice, Assistant Secretary [Daniel] Fried, Deputy Assistant Secretary [Mathew] Bryza, and Ambassador Yovanovitch have raised with you our deep concerns about Armenia's transfer of arms to Iran which resulted in the death and injury of U.S. soldiers in Iraq," Negroponte warned. "Notwithstanding the close relationship between our countries, neither the Administration nor the U.S. Congress can overlook this case. ... If sanctions are imposed, penalties could include the cutoff of U.S. assistance and certain export restrictions."

The New York Times, England's The Guardian, Spain's El Pais, France's Le Monde and Germany's Der Spiegel were the news organizations that got a look at the cache of U.S. diplomatic correspondence, that includes State and Defense Department communications with some 270 embassies and consulates dating back to 2008.

The State Department's top legal adviser, Harold Koh, condemned the leak in a letter to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Saturday, saying the exposure of the cables threatens the lives of innocent individuals, including journalists, human rights workers, and soldiers.

The Defense Department also warned Sunday that the latest WikiLeaks exposure threatens the inter-agency communication the United States has tried to increase in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“The 9/11 attacks and their aftermath revealed gaps in intra-governmental information sharing,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in a statement to reporters Sunday. “Departments and agencies have taken significant steps to reduce those obstacles, and the work that has been done to date has resulted in considerable improvement in information-sharing and increased cooperation across government operations.”

“However, as we have now seen with the theft of huge amounts of classified data and the Wikileaks compromises, these efforts to give diplomatic, military, law enforcement and intelligence specialists quicker and easier access to greater amounts of data have had unintended consequences – making our sensitive data more vulnerable to compromise,” Whitman said.

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