VZCZCXRO7790
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHDIR #0016/01 0871401
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P R 281401Z MAR 07
FM IRAN RPO DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0079
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0045
RUEHAD/USDAO ABU DHABI TC
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0074
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDIR/IRAN RPO DUBAI 0072

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 IRAN RPO DUBAI 000016 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR GAYLE; PARIS FOR WALLER; BERLIN FOR PAETZOLD; BAKU 
FOR HAUGEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/28/2027 
TAGS: PREL PGOV IR IS IZ PTER AE
SUBJECT: IRAN'S EXTERNAL RELATIONS 
 
REF: A) IRPO DUBAI 0012; B) IRPO DUBAI 0014 
 
RPO DUBAI 00000016  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Jillian L. Burns, Director, Iran Regional 
Presence Office, Dubai, UAE. 
REASON: 1.4 (d) 
 
1.(S/NF) Summary:  A purported former IRGC general and an 
Iranian doctor who is reportedly very close to the regime, 
discussed Iran's external affairs in separate meetings with IRPO 
Director.  One said Iran is "begging" for relations with the US 
and that the US and Iran can come to an agreement, but only if 
it agrees to disagree on some issues.  Antipathy towards Israel 
runs far deeper than antipathy towards the US, and one source 
claims "all" Iranians believe Israel would use a nuclear weapon 
against Iran in a first strike.  While the doctor says it was a 
mistake for Iran to fund terrorist groups, he maintains it 
cannot abandon them now or risk losing honor.  The general says 
Iran can do a lot more to monitor the Iran-Iraq border and that 
US and Iran can come to terms on Iraq prior to reaching a 
broader resolution of issues.  End summary 
 
2.(S/NF) A purported former IRGC general and an Iranian doctor 
who is reportedly very close to conservative circles in Iran, 
discussed Iran's external affairs.  Both were introduced to IRPO 
Director in separate meetings by a longstanding Iranian-American 
contact.  Their comments on the IRGC, the Basij, and Ansar-e 
Hizballah, as well as the nuclear and domestic situation are 
reported in reftels. 
 
US-Iran relations 
----------------- 
 
3.(S/NF) The doctor said he does not see US-Iran conflict as 
inevitable and can envision friendly negotiations in mutual 
respect with the US, but he does not think complete resolution 
of all issues possible, saying both sides would need to agree to 
differ on some issues.  That said, he claimed Iran's relations 
with the US would improve if the US reduced its support for 
Israel.  The doctor claimed Iran is "begging" for relations with 
the US, but individuals within the government are wary of 
advocating such steps, afraid of getting burned.  He claimed 
that 70% of Iranians openly support relations with the US and a 
further 20% want relations but are too nervous to admit it 
publicly.  In his view, Iran is better off dealing with the US 
than with Syria, because Iranians "can't trust Syrians," saying 
they break their word. 
 
Israel 
------ 
 
4.(S/NF) The doctor maintained that "all" Iranians believe 
Israel would use nuclear weapons against them in a first strike. 
 (His views on the Iranian nuclear issue are reported in ref B.) 
 When asked why not try to resolve the bilateral issues between 
Iran and Israel, he replied that while he can envision 
negotiations with the US, negotiations with Israel are 
"inconceivable." 
 
5.(S/NF) The doctor also repeated a frequently heard claim that 
the Israeli government currently has influence within the 
Iranian government.  He accused Israel of deliberately creating 
discord within the IRIG, to "divide and conquer."  For instance, 
he said, when high levels make a decision, but lower levels of 
government interfere with implementation, that's the work of the 
Israelis.  The doctor maintained, without explaining, that 
President Ahmadi-Nejad's motivation for staging the conference 
on the Holocaust was to counter Israeli influence inside the 
Iranian government. 
 
6.(S/NF) The former general, when asked about the issues between 
Iran and Israel, cited Iran's historically good relations with 
Jews, claiming it was instead Arabs and Jews who were always in 
conflict.  He maintained that the onus was now on Israel to 
build trust about its long-term intentions.  Iranians believe 
that Israel wants to expand its territory from the Nile in Egypt 
to the Furat river in Iraq, he claimed. 
 
7.(S/NF) When asked about the source of antagonism with Israel, 
the general said there were a few issues that penetrated the 
revolution that were not "natural."  He blamed the influence of 
Palestinians who prior to the revolution trained Iranian 
revolutionary fighters in Lebanon.  After seizing power, those 
Iranians were sympathetic to Palestinians, he said.  Some of 
 
RPO DUBAI 00000016  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
these Palestinian protigis went on to establish the IRGC. 
Iranians later broke with the PLO when Arafat supported Saddam 
Hussein, but he claimed that sympathy for Palestinians endured 
within this group.  (He also said the same thing happened with 
communists in Iran.  Communists took part in the revolution but 
were later "killed off."  Nonetheless, Marxist economic thinking 
prevailed, resulting in an economy that is "70%" state 
controlled.) 
 
Support for terrorist groups 
---------------------------- 
 
8.(S/NF) One of the issues the doctor felt could not be resolved 
initially in any negotiations with the US would be Iran's 
support for Hizballah.  He said Iran cannot withdraw support for 
groups like Hizballah and Hamas, a matter of honor.  Firstly, 
Iran sees itself as the champion for Shia, and secondly, links 
to such groups gives Iran a role in the region.  He said Iranian 
support for Hizballah is partially a response to current 
realities, but partially a future investment in case Israel 
tries again to occupy Lebanese territory.  That said, he 
accepted that Hizballah's pretext of Shebaa Farms as a 
justification for fighting Israel was weak. 
 
9.(S/NF) The doctor freely admitted that Iranians do not like 
the fact that Iran sends money to Palestinian groups.  He 
claimed that 95% Iranians don't care about Palestinians and said 
Arafat was called a "prostitute" in Iran.  In his view, funding 
these groups (Note: it was not clear if he was including 
Hizballah.  Endnote) was a mistake from the beginning, but he 
maintained it would be too costly in terms of honor for Iran to 
abandon them now.  He drew a parallel to the American situation 
in Iraq, claiming that the US now "knows" that invading Iraq was 
a mistake but believes the costs of walking away would be too 
high. 
 
Sunni extremism 
--------------- 
 
10.(S/NF) The general called Sunni extremism Iran's biggest 
enemy.  The doctor claimed Sunni extremists hate Shia more than 
they hate the US and said Al-Qaida had burned Iran.   Although 
the doctor did not clarify whether he was speaking with any 
degree of knowledge, he said that after Iran had treated 
Al-Qaida with a degree of tolerance, allowing passage and 
treating those under house arrest well, Al-Qaida paid back Iran 
with its statements against Shia. 
 
Iraq 
---- 
 
11.(S/NF) The doctor maintained that Iran "has to be" present in 
Iraq to support Shia as a matter of honor.  He claimed that 
"80%" of Iranian activities in Iraq are not related to violence. 
 Furthermore, he said, it is not in Iran's interest to end up in 
conflict with the US there. 
 
12.(S/NF) The general claimed to know the Iran-Iraq border well 
from his war experience and said Iran can do a lot more to 
monitor the border.  In his opinion, US and Iran can come to an 
agreement on Iraq issues prior to resolving bilateral issues, 
but that discussions behind the scenes between intelligence 
agencies were more important than diplomatic meetings. 
 
Regional relations 
------------------ 
 
13.(S/NF) The former general repeated the claim often heard from 
Iranians that Persian Gulf countries are not actually afraid of 
Iran, that these countries lie to the US to get US assistance. 
When asked about Saudi concerns that Iran may try to stir up 
unrest in the Saudi Shia population, he dismissed the notion and 
instead accused Saudi religious elements of working with 
Pakistani intelligence to stir up the Baloch population. 
 
14.(S/NF) When asked about March 5, 2007 Sunday Telegraph story 
in which a former Iranian consul general to Dubai claimed to 
disclose intelligence activities of the consulate and 
contingency plans for attacks in Dubai in case of Israeli or US 
attacks, he said he had no knowledge of the claims.  He said 
only that he would not be surprised if Hizballah is funded from 
Dubai.  He maintained that "all" such groups have some kind of 
 
RPO DUBAI 00000016  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
presence here and claimed that Usama bin Ladin owns a shopping 
center in Dubai.  In any case, he doubted Iran would order 
attacks in Dubai, given the role it plays as Iran's economic 
window to the world. 
BURNS