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FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5884
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 004969 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/29/2016 
TAGS: PREL PARM ECON ENGY IR JA
SUBJECT: KHATAMI VISITS JAPAN; SEES KOIZUMI; AZADEGAN 
NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE 
 
Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES JOSEPH DONOVAN FOR REASONS 1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Prime Minister Koizumi warned former 
Iranian President Khatami that Iran would be wise to 
cooperate with the international community rather than 
continue to isolate itself, during an August 24 meeting. 
Khatami, in both his public remarks and in his meeting with 
Koizumi, maintained that Iran's nuclear program is for 
peaceful purposes only.  MOFA working-level officials report 
that negotiations continue on developing the Azadegan oil 
fields, but expect little progress while the nuclear issue is 
pending.  Iranian DFM for Legal and International Affairs 
Abbas Araghchi will visit Tokyo shortly to discuss the 
nuclear issue.  Japan has not yet seen a copy of Iran's 
response to the P5 plus 1 offer and is unable to comment on 
it.  END SUMMARY. 
 
----------------------------------- 
MEETING WITH PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C)  Former Iranian president Seyyed Mohammad Khatami 
visited Japan August 24-26, to deliver lecture on August 25 
at Tokyo's United Nations University on "Dialogue Among 
Civilizations", and to participate August 26 in the World 
Religious Peace Forum in Kyoto.  He was granted a meeting 
with Prime Minister Koizumi on August 24. 
 
¶3. (C)  Koizumi was joined in the Khatami meeting by former 
Prime Minister Mori, who last received Khatami in Tokyo when 
he had visited as Iran's president in 2000, according to MOFA 
Second Middle East Division's Takashi Kamada's read-out to 
Embassy Tokyo Political Officer on August 28.  Iran's nuclear 
program is purely for peaceful purposes, Khatami told 
Koizumi, and Tehran does not plan to develop nuclear weapons. 
 Iran seeks to solve the dispute with the West over its 
nuclear program through dialogue and hopes Japan will help in 
convincing the United States and the European nations of 
Iran's view.  If the U.S. and United Nations push Iran too 
hard, Khatami asserted, extremist and radical groups in Iran 
will come to the fore and overwhelm those seeking a more 
moderate solution.  Koizumi replied that Japan values and 
wishes to maintain its good relationship with Iran, but urged 
Iran to respect the will of the international community.  He 
warned Khatami that Japan had made the mistake of becoming 
isolated from the international community and had paid a 
terrible price.  In contrast, once Japan rejoined the family 
of nations it had done extremely well and had prospered to 
the benefit of its people. 
 
¶4. (C)  Turing to the subject of Iraq, Khatami explained that 
Iran supports the process of democratization in Iraq and 
that, accordingly, its views on Iraq are closely in synch 
with those of the United States.  He lamented that the United 
States does not understand this and again asked Japan to help 
explain Tehran's views. 
 
------------------------ 
NEGOTIATIONS ON AZADEGAN 
------------------------ 
 
¶5. (C)  When asked about reports that Japan was being 
pressured by the Iranians over the Azadegan oil field issue 
and that Japan has decided to stop funding the project, 
Kamada replied that Inpex Corporation is continuing to 
negotiate with the National Iranian Oil Company.  The hang 
up, he said, continues to be the clearance of landmines.  He 
was reluctant to officially confirm that a decision has been 
made to withhold government financing for the project but 
said that he does not think the Azadegan project can move 
forward as long as tension over the nuclear issue persists. 
The two issues are linked, he admitted, although the Japanese 
are careful never to admit this to the Iranians.  As a 
private company, Inpex is free to negotiate with the 
Iranians.  However, it is heavily dependent on government 
financing from JPIC and NEXI.  While the government cannot 
directly intervene in the contract negotiations, it can 
withhold needed funding, he pointed out. 
 
-------------- 
PUBLIC REMARKS 
-------------- 
 
¶6. (U)  On August 25, Embassy Tokyo Political Officer 
attended Khatami's U Thant Distinguished Lecture at Tokyo's 
United Nations University entitled "Dialogue Among 
Civilizations: A Necessity for Living in Peace and 
Non-Violence, Bridging the Development Gap Among Nations, and 
Building Global Citizenship."  Although his prepared remarks 
did not touch upon Iran's nuclear program, a number of the 
questions he was asked following the lecture did.  Khatami 
stated that uranium is a "polluting material" and that Iran 
 
TOKYO 00004969  002 OF 002 
 
 
does not want or need access to nuclear weapons.  Over 30 
percent of Japan's electricity is generated by nuclear power 
plants; Iran has a legitimate right to do the same, he said. 
 
¶7. (U) While other nations have offered to provide fuel for 
Iran's program, Iran cannot trust others to provide such fuel 
after Iran has invested billions to develop and construct the 
required infrastructure, Khatami argued.  To justify Iran's 
mistrust, Khatami cited the case of a contract for Airbus 
aircraft that he said was not fulfilled due to pressure from 
the United States, even after Iran had made the down payments 
required for the planes.  Moreover, he maintained, the 
quantity and purity of the uranium Iran is enriching is not a 
threat to others.  Alluding to Israel, he contrasted Iran's 
program to those of "other powers in the region which can 
produce tens of nuclear weapons each year and who are 
supported by others."  Khatami charged that it is not Iran, 
but "others" who want to precipitate a crisis over the 
nuclear issue and proclaimed Iran's readiness to negotiate a 
just settlement.  Iran is entitled to use nuclear energy, he 
concluded, warning that it would be a great injustice if Iran 
were to be isolated and the power to decide its fate left in 
the hands of a few other countries. 
 
¶8. (U)  With regard to terrorism and violence in the world, 
Khatami warned that the media is a tool controlled by those 
who exercise power to promote war and violence, not love and 
friendship.  Following the end of the Cold War, the West 
needed a new enemy to justify its continued need for power so 
"Islamophobia" was created to replace communism.  In turn, 
extremist Islamic groups sprung up to combat this.  The 
purveyors of both policies are cut from the same cloth: they 
promote violence and hatred rather than peace and love.  With 
regard to Iraq, Khatami said that everyone agrees Saddam was 
a brutal dictator who the world will not miss, but the United 
States had, by invading Iraq, promoted the increased 
terrorism that is leading to the daily deaths of Iraqi, 
American, and British citizens.  The violence taking place in 
the world today is due to the misguided and wrong policies of 
some countries. "The United States claims to be fighting 
terrorism, but what they are really doing is promoting 
instability in the region." 
 
¶9. (U)  When asked whether politics and religion are 
compatible, Khatami responded that they are and must be.  He 
warned that science and politics must have ethics and argued 
that religion is the source of the morals, ethics, and 
justice that all governments must seek to attain.  He said 
that the three major religions have many values in common and 
must be used to unite, rather than to divide.  He closed by 
saying that the unjust policies of some countries are 
responsible for the misuse of religion by extremist elements. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
IRANIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C)  Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and 
International Affairs Abbas Araghchi will visit Tokyo shortly 
and has requested a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister 
Tsuneo Nishida to discuss the nuclear issue, Kamada told us. 
 
SIPDIS 
This meeting will likely take place either late on August 31 
following Nishida's return that day from Central Asia or on 
September 1.  Nishida, he said, will deliver Tokyo's 
consistent message that Iran should comply with the decisions 
of the international community.  Kamada pointed out that 
despite the fact that Japan is a UNSC member, it has yet to 
see a copy of Iran's response to the P5 plus 1 initiative 
therefore making it impossible to formulate a position on it. 
DONOVAN