VZCZCXRO5944
RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHFR #1193/01 2441032
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 011032Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7070
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001193 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM IR FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE-IRAN: MAGAZINE ARTICLE RE-IGNITES POLITICAL 
ROW 
 
REF: A. PARIS 1162 
     ¶B. PARIS POINTS AUG 27 2009 
 
Classified By: Classified by Pol M/C Allegrone for Reasons 1.4 b and d. 
 
¶1. (C)  Summary.  A series of Iranian and French actions in 
Paris seem to have decreased the likelihood that accused 
French citizen Clotilde Reiss will be acquitted in the 
immediate future.  After Iranian authorities conditionally 
released Reiss from prison on August 16, it appeared that she 
could soon be pardoned.  Then, in an August 25 interview with 
Le Parisen newspaper, Iranian Ambassador to France, Seyed 
Mehdi Miraboutalebi, leveled what appear to be new and far 
more detailed charges of espionage against Reiss and France 
than those announced August 10 in Tehran by the Iranian 
prosecutor.  French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner angrily 
retorted in Le Monde newspaper that Iran's' charges were 
"nonsense."  This exchange prompted President Sarkozy to 
change plans and publicly address the Reiss situation in his 
August 26 remarks to the  French Conference of Ambassadors. 
According to Presidential Strategic Affairs Advisor Francois 
Richier, Iranian Ambassador Miraboutalebi took offense to 
what he considered an intentional slight because the 
interview referred to him by the name of his predecessor. 
This series of steps appears to have damaged the progress 
that was being made to secure Clotilde Reisse's release. End 
summary. 
 
¶2. (U)  Iran originally detained Reiss on July 1 for 
allegedly participating in anti-government demonstrations in 
Tehran following the country's elections in June.  Her August 
16 release to house arrest at the French Embassy while 
awaiting a court verdict appeared to suggest progress was 
being made on an eventual resolution to her case.  However, 
Miraboutalebi leveled what appear to be fresh accusations in 
the Le Parisen article published on August 25, claiming that 
Reiss had taken specific actions that led Iran to accuse her 
of espionage.  He claimed Reiss had training in nuclear 
technology and had written a paper entitled, "Understanding 
Iranian politics in the nuclear crisis" prior to coming to 
the country.  He questioned why she had decided to come to 
the Iranian university located in the same city as Iran's 
uranium enrichment program, why someone educated in 
geopolitics would pose as a French language instructor, and 
why a teacher of foreign language would come to a school of 
technology to teach a subject not offered by the school. 
Miraboutalebi added that Iranian officials had followed Reiss 
since her arrival in Iran and that she had admitted to each 
of the eight charges against her.  Responding to the question 
that her confessions could have been made under duress, he 
told Le Parisen that Islam prevented Iranian officials from 
doing so.  Miraboutalebi added that when the French 
Ambassador visited Reiss in prison, he found her in good 
condition. 
 
¶3. (U)  Le Monde carried Kouchner's response to the new 
charges later the same day.  The Foreign Minister was clearly 
upset and called the Iranian accusations "nonsense."  He 
added Iranian justice officials had not accused Reiss of 
spying and Miraboutalebi was wrong to do so.  Kouchner added 
that the Government of France (GOF) had tried to work with 
the Iranian government and that he had called his 
interlocutor on a weekly basis, but without having secured 
Reiss's return to the France. 
 
¶4. (C)  Presidential Strategic Affairs advisor Richier told 
us that Sarkozy had originally planned not to raise the Reiss 
issue in his August 26 speech to France's corps of 
Ambassadors (Ref B) in part due to progress on the Reiss case 
including her August 16 release to house arrest.  However, 
the August 25 Le Parisen article, which the French believe 
was issued under instructions from Tehran, prompted Sarkozy 
to change his mind by publicly addressing the Reiss issue 
which he called a "hostage scandal" and noted that two French 
citizens were involved in order to draw attention to a 
French-Iranian dual national, Nazak Afshar, who was also 
arrested at the same time as Reiss and is of equal concern to 
the French government. Moreover, Sarkozy publicly took a 
tough line on Iran's leaders when he said "the same leaders 
who are telling us that the Iranian nuclear program is 
peaceful are telling us their elections were honest. 
Frankly, who believes them." 
 
¶5. (C)  To complicate matters, Le Parisen used the name of 
Iran's former Ambassador instead of Miraboutalebi's. 
According to President Sarkozy's Strategic Affairs Advisor 
Francois Richier, Miraboutalebi considered this reference an 
intentional slight orchestrated by the French government to 
humiliate him.  Richier joked that as a result France is 
seemingly almost at war with Iran. 
 
PARIS 00001193  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6. (C)  Comment: While Sarkozy made an important point to 
highlight the less well known case of French-Iranian detainee 
Nazak Afshar, we judge that any potential French hostage 
release likely will be delayed due to this exchange. 
Sarkozy's intensified public critique of the Iranian 
leadership hopefully will demonstrate to the Iranian 
government that the GOF will not shy away from confrontation 
regarding Iran's nuclear program even in the face of 
"scandalous" treatment of French nationals. 
RIVKIN