VZCZCXRO5796
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHKU #4071/01 2841349
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 111349Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7135
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 004071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/IR AND NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV IR KU KUWAIT IRAN RELATIONS
SUBJECT: GCC ADVISOR: VISIT TO ISFAHAN NUCLEAR FACILITY 
CONFIRMS SUSPICIONS; GCC MORE AWARE OF IRANIAN THREAT 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 3618 
     ¶B. KUWAIT 1346 
     ¶C. KUWAIT 677 
 
Classified By: CDA Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C/NF) Summary: In an October 9 meeting with PolChief, 
Advisor to the GCC Secretary General Dr. Sami Al-Faraj shared 
his impressions of a two-day conference sponsored by the 
Expediency Council he attended in April that included a visit 
to the Isfahan nuclear facility.  Al-Faraj, who regularly 
travels to Iran, noted the large number of military personnel 
in Tehran and particularly at the Isfahan nuclear facility, 
which left the conference participants doubting the facility 
was being used solely for peaceful purposes.  Speakers at the 
conference, including Rafsanjani and Larijani, blamed 
problems in the region on the presence of foreign troops. 
Notably absent was any mention of the GCC, Egypt, or Jordan 
in discussions on regional issues.  Al-Faraj also commented 
on the GCC's reaction to regional developments.  He said the 
recent Israel-Hizballah conflict crystallized GCC countries' 
awareness of the seriousness of the Iranian threat and 
strengthened their commitment to providing economic 
assistance to Iraq to counter Iranian influence there. 
Initially wary, GCC countries are increasingly accepting of a 
Shi'a government in Iraq and have been reassured by senior 
Iraqi Shi'a clerics' calls for moderation and calm, he 
concluded.  End summary. 
 
Read Out of Visit to Iran 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C/NF) PolChief met October 9 with Dr. Sami Al-Faraj, an 
advisor to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary 
General and the founder and director of the Kuwait Center for 
Strategic Studies (KCSS), a private strategic research and 
consulting firm.  In April, Al-Faraj attended a two-day 
conference in Iran sponsored by the Expediency Council and 
organized by the Pugwash Conferences of Science and World 
Affairs, a Nobel Prize-winning NGO opposed to nuclear 
weapons, along with approximately 30 other participants from 
around the region, including several Indian and Iraqi nuclear 
scientists.  The first day featured lectures by more than 30 
leading Iranian officials, including former president 
Rafsanjani and Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator. 
 
 
¶3.  (C/NF) Al-Faraj said there was some "slight" difference 
in the views presented -- for example, Rafsanjani tried to 
take credit for Iran's nuclear program -- but all the 
speakers blamed the region's problems on the presence of 
foreign troops, a view he said was "completely at odds" with 
that of Gulf countries.  Al-Faraj said "pragmatists" like 
Rafsanjani and Larijani presented stronger arguments than 
more hard-line speakers, while military and intelligence 
officials tended to contradict themselves.  He cited an 
example of one intelligence official who claimed Iran had no 
presence in Iraq, but later said with assurance that there 
were 41 Sunni terrorists groups in Iraq. 
 
¶4.  (C/NF) Al-Faraj said the speakers' arguments all seemed 
to be based on some fundamental, unquestioned assumptions, 
such as that any U.S. attack on Iran would be of a limited 
nature against the country's nuclear facilities, and that 
Iran would take its nuclear program "underground."  Al-Faraj 
was also struck by the speakers' complete silence on the 
Gulf.  He said Iranian officials only talked about the U.S., 
Britain, and Iraq when discussing the region; the GCC, Egypt, 
and Jordan were never mentioned.  When visiting Abu Dhabi 
days after the conference, Larijani delivered a very 
different message to GCC countries, Al-Faraj claimed. 
 
¶5.  (C/NF) On the last day of the conference, the group was 
taken on an unannounced visit to the Isfahan nuclear 
facility.  Accompanying them were military personnel, who 
radioed ahead to block traffic on the roads and intersections 
they passed through.  Al-Faraj said there was a "strong" 
military presence at the facility, leaving the conference 
participants convinced that the facility had some sort of 
military function.  Al-Faraj, who visits Iran several times a 
year, was surprised by the lack of Basij and IRGC forces on 
the streets, despite a media report the week before he left 
saying these forces were cracking down on dress code 
violators, something he saw no evidence to support. 
 
Growing Awareness of Iranian Threat, But Still Unprepared 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶6.  (C/NF) Prior to the recent Israel-Hizballah conflict, GCC 
 
KUWAIT 00004071  002 OF 002 
 
 
countries were reluctant to confront Iran over its nuclear 
program or policies in the region, Al-Faraj said.  Now, there 
is an increasing awareness that something must be done -- 
"politically, strategically, economically, or militarily" -- 
to contain Iran regionally, or, as he put it, to "clip the 
claws of the lion."  According to Al-Faraj, this awareness 
had been growing since the beginning of the year, but 
crystallized with the conflict in Lebanon.  Kuwait became 
more fully aware of the threat from Iran during Ahmadinejad's 
visit in February (ref C), he said.  The Kuwaiti leadership 
wanted to know if Ahmadinejad was really serious and were 
convinced in their meetings with him that he was "seriously 
crazy," Al-Faraj claimed.  He noted that the afternoon 
Ahmadinejad left Kuwait, the Amir instructed Kuwait's 
emergency services agencies to begin emergency/disaster 
planning preparations (ref B).  (Note: Al-Faraj later 
provided some consulting on this planning process.  End note.) 
 
¶7.  (C/NF) Despite this increased awareness, Al-Faraj 
believed Kuwait was "woefully unprepared" to deal with the 
threat from Iran.  (Comment: Al-Faraj describes himself as a 
pessimist and admits that he generally presents the 
"worst-case scenario," which is likely reflected in his 
analysis.  End comment.)  He was "absolutely certain that 
Iranian intelligence forces have the capacity to strike 
exposed targets in Kuwait," and said Kuwait lacked the 
resources to deal with large-scale demonstrations of the 
"80,000" Iranian expatriate workers in Kuwait.  (Comment: 
Other contacts, including Iranian expats, estimate the 
Iranian population in Kuwait to be between fifty and sixty 
thousand.  It is unlikely that this community, the majority 
of whom are manual laborers, would participate in pro-Iran 
demonstrations if tensions escalate.  End comment.)  He 
"(did) not believe the GCC has the capability to effectively 
police a sanctions area."  Al-Faraj claimed there was a "lack 
of seriousness" about the Iranian threat among some senior 
Kuwaiti ministerial officials, who were hesitant to pursue 
contingency planning in the hope that the problem would 
resolve itself.  Al-Faraj dismissed reports that Kuwait has 
drafted a Non-Aggression Agreement with Iran (ref A) as 
"nonsense." 
 
¶8.  (C/NF) Despite the convergence of views on Iran, Al-Faraj 
complained about GCC countries' lack of strategic vision and 
noted that the GCC position on Iran was often contradictory. 
For example, while the GCC supports a peaceful resolution to 
tensions over Iran's nuclear program, Gulf countries oppose 
the P5 1 incentive package, not wanting Iran to have these 
benefits, he claimed.  In addition, Al-Faraj said some 
smaller GCC countries are concerned that Iran will be 
weakened too much, leaving Saudi Arabia in a stronger 
position in the Gulf.  "While government officials in GCC 
countries will not yet admit it, there is a growing awareness 
that they will ultimately have to choose between a nuclear 
Iran and a non-nuclear Iran, between Iran and the U.S.  There 
is no question what they will choose: they would sell Iran in 
a heartbeat.  Ultimately, your objectives and ours are the 
same," he concluded. 
 
GCC Can and Should Play Stronger Role in Iraq 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C/NF) Al-Faraj said the Lebanon conflict also increased 
GCC countries' "seriousness" about providing economic 
assistance to Iraq to counter Iranian influence there.  He 
believed the GCC could play a much more constructive role in 
Iraq's economic development, which would consequently 
increase the GCC's clout and influence in the country. 
According to him, Gulf states were initially wary of a 
Shi'a-dominated government, but have been reassured by senior 
Iraqi Shi'a clerics' calls for calm and moderation, and have 
slowly acquiesced to the idea of a Shi'a-led Iraq.  GCC 
countries can always appeal to Iraqis' Arab identity to draw 
them away from Iran, Al-Faraj said. 
 
********************************************* * 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
 
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
********************************************* * 
Tueller