VZCZCXRO4482
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHROV #0095/01 1521145
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 011145Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY VATICAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0352
INFO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON IMMEDIATE 0003
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0380

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 000095 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/IR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  6/1/2016 
TAGS: PREL IR VT
SUBJECT: HOLY SEE:  IRANIAN DIPLOMAT DISCUSSES US STATEMENT, POSSIBLE 
EXCHANGE OF SENIOR DELEGATIONS WITH VATICAN; AHMADINEJAD AND KHAMENEI 
LETTERS TO THE POPE? 
 
REF: (a) State 87682, (b) Vatican 092 and previous, (c) 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Christopher Sandrolini, Deputy Chief of Mission, 
EXEC, State. 
REASON: 1.4 (d) 
¶1.  (C) Summary.  UK ambassador met Iranian DCM June 1 and 
discussed Iran-US relations in light of Secretary Rice's May 31 
statement.   That discussion included reference to a draft 
letter from Ahmadinejad to Pope Benedict XVI and a possible 
letter from Ayatollah Khamenei, as well as Iranian interest in 
exchanging high-level delegations with the Holy See.  Post will 
be reporting further in the next two days.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) UK ambassador to the Holy See Francis Campbell (protect) 
told Charge d'affaires June 1 that he had met the Iranian DCM 
(see para 5 below for bio info) that morning, at the latter's 
request.  Iranian DCM said he had been instructed to seek the 
meeting, and took copious notes throughout.  Campbell said he 
had chosen his words carefully, to minimize the possibility of 
them being inaccurately reported.  He described the meeting as 
candid.  Paras 3 and 4 below relate Campbell's account of his 
meeting. 
 
¶3. (C) Iranian DCM said that Iran is looking for "even one word" 
from the USG acknowledging its right to a civilian nuclear 
program.  He wondered if the May 31 announcement by Secretary 
Rice should be considered genuine, noting that Ahmadinejad's 
letter to President Bush had gone unanswered.  Campbell told him 
to think broadly, and as an experienced diplomat to consider the 
potentially historic possibilities of the moment.  Alluding to 
the pace of any potential progress, Campbell suggested that Iran 
should "learn to walk before it tries to run"; when the Iranian 
DCM cited Iran's domestic politics as a constraint on what it 
can say or do publicly, Campbell suggested that this applies at 
least as strongly to the US and other Western democracies. 
Campbell suggested Iran look to the example of Libya as evidence 
of US readiness to improve relations with former adversaries, 
given the right circumstances.  Iranian DCM said Iran would want 
more in the way of security guarantees. 
 
¶4. (C) Campbell asked about rumors that Ahmadinejad would write 
to Pope Benedict XVI (see ref b).  Iranian DCM said "off the 
record" that Ahmadinejad had indeed written in his personal 
capacity to the pope, but that Khamenei had blocked it, saying 
that it would fall to him (Khamenei) rather than Ahmadinejad to 
write such a letter.  Iranian DCM noted that Pope Benedict is 
less warm to Iran than had been Pope John Paul II; Campbell 
observed that while Benedict's style might be more reserved, his 
decision to treat relations with Islam in the context of culture 
rather than interreligious dialogue (ref C) should not be 
misinterpreted as a sign of coldness.  Iranian DCM said his 
government had conveyed to the Holy See its desire to send a 
senior delegation from Tehran to the Vatican, and then to 
receive a similar delegation from the Holy See; but so far the 
Holy See had not responded to the inquiry.  The delegation's 
writ would cover a range of issues, both global and bilateral. 
 
-------------- 
BIO NOTES 
--------------- 
 
¶5. (C)  Campbell did not name the Iranian DCM but we presume it 
to be Ahmad Fahima.  According to Campbell, Fahima is fluent in 
English and does most of the heavy lifting for the Iranian 
embassy to the Holy See (which, with seven accredited diplomats, 
is one of the largest such embassies; by comparison, we have 
six).  Fahima asked Campbell for help with scholarships for his 
daughter to study in the UK.  He also praised Ayatollah Khamenei 
highly at several points, and came across to Campbell as a 
moderate.  The Iranian ambassador to the Holy See, Mohammad 
Farad Javidzadeh, is a scholar and a poet, considered here to be 
gentle and thoughtful, but not an especially effective diplomat; 
he speaks German but no Italian or English.  In Rome since 
October 2004, he reportedly expected to be recalled after 
Ahmadinejad ascended to power, and contemplated resigning. 
Javidzadeh composed a poem (reportedly beautiful) about Jesus 
Christ and sent it to the diplomatic corps -- minus the US -- as 
a Christmas card. 
 
---------------- 
COMMENT 
---------------- 
 
¶6. (C)  As we have noted previously, both Iran and the Holy See 
regard their relationship as important.  The Holy See has been 
acutely interested in discussing Iran with us; it appears that 
Iran may see its embassy here as well placed for exploring any 
potential dialogue with the US or Europe.  The apparent 
confirmation of an Ahmadinejad letter to the Pope, the hint of 
an eventual Khamenei letter, and the Iranian interest in 
exchanging high-level delegations with the Holy See all strike 
us as remarkable -- though we defer to Department's experts on 
the significance of these.  We would expect the Holy See to take 
 
VATICAN 00000095  002 OF 002 
 
 
such overtures seriously and to give careful thought to any 
possible response.  With regard to Iranian DCM's comment (para 
3) about US attitudes, charge noted to Campbell that Secretary 
Rice had explicitly acknowledged Iran's right to civil nuclear 
energy in her May 31 briefing. 
 
¶7. (C) In response to demarche instruction on Iran (ref A), 
charge d'affaires will see Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Holy 
See's foreign minister equivalent, on the morning of June 2. 
Cardinal Sodano, the PM-equivalent, was not available.  In 
addition, UK Prime Minister Blair will meet Pope Benedict June 3 
and will discuss Iran (at the Pope's request); Ambassador Rooney 
will see Blair shortly afterward.  Post will be reporting 
further over the next two days. 
SANDROLINI