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RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0375
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4531
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RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
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RUNCIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000526 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/16/2038 
TAGS: PREL PTER EFIN BR VE EC CO BL IR XR CH UN
SUBJECT: IRANIAN DIPLOMACY MOVES INTO HIGH GEAR, PART 2 
 
REF: A. BRASILIA 420 
     ¶B. 07 BRASILIA 2132 
 
BRASILIA 00000526  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Clifford M. Sobel, reasons 1.4 B and D. 
 
¶1. (S) Summary:  Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Reza 
Sheikh-Attar visited Brasilia in mid-March to press Brazil to 
join an anti-American bloc in South America composed of 
Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela, and Iranian President Mahmud 
Ahmadi-Nejad continues to try to arrange an official visit to 
Brazil, according to Senator Heraclito Fortes (strictly 
protect), chairman of the Foreign Relations and National 
Defense Committee.  Fortes said the Iranian diplomat 
complained about UN pressure on Iran's nuclear program, and 
said that after the Olympics, China would deliberately exert 
pressure on the U.S. dollar by selling off investments in the 
U.S. suddenly or gradually.  This cable provides additional 
information on Sheikh-Attar's activities reported in ref A. 
Fortes is one of a handful of Brazilian legislators with 
serious concerns about Iranian overtures in the region, which 
he sees as an effort to exploit Latin America's 
vulnerabilities to advance Iranian interests by undermining 
the U.S. in the region. End Summary. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Iran Chafing Under UN Pressure 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2.  (S) Senator Heraclito Fortes (Democrat, opposition; of 
Piaui), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations and National 
Defense Committee, briefed the Ambassador on March 28 on his 
meeting in mid-March with Ali Reza Sheikh-Attar, Deputy 
Foreign Minister of Iran.  Fortes recalled our previous 
conversations with him on Iranian activities in the region 
(ref B) and said that recent events have borne out his 
conviction that Iran is behind certain problems in Latin 
America.  He said Sheikh-Attar comes to Brazil occasionally 
and always follows the same itinerary: Brasilia, La Paz, 
Quito, Caracas, and Tehran, and "the conversation is always 
the same": he complains about UN pressures on Iran over 
uranium enrichment, centrifuges, UN inspections, and so 
forth. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Iran Urges Formation of Anti-American Bloc 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3.  (S) The Iranian diplomat was lobbying Brazil to join an 
anti-America bloc, Fortes said, which in his view already 
includes Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.  Sheikh-Attar told 
Fortes he was also talking with Argentina about the bloc, 
although Fortes did not know whether Sheikh-Attar had gone to 
Argentina on this latest trip to Latin America.  Fortes noted 
that Sheikh-Attar also said, "Brazil will lose if it doesn't 
participate."  Sheikh-Attar also complained that Brazil has 
not yet received an official visit by Iranian President Ahmed 
Ahmadinejad, Fortes noted. 
 
¶4.  (S) In Fortes's view, it is difficult to put together an 
anti-American bloc in South America, but if Iran were 
successful, such a bloc could cause trouble after the Beijing 
Olympics.  He said categorically, "There is zero chance that 
Brazil will participate" in such a bloc, although there are a 
small number in the government such as presidential foreign 
policy adviser Marco Aurelio Garcia who are favorable. 
Fortes said Sheikh-Attar also met with officials at the 
Ministry of Foreign Relations (ref A), and did not know 
whether he had seen President Lula. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Iranian Meddling in Latin America 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶5.  (S) Citing the recent conflict between Ecuador and 
 
BRASILIA 00000526  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Colombia as an example, Chairman Fortes noted again (ref B) 
that Iran is trying to cause unrest in Latin America.  He 
said Iran may have played a role because his previous 
contacts with Iranian officials have led him to the 
conclusion that Iran intends to transfer conflict from the 
Middle East to Latin America.  He also pointed to technology 
transfers to Venezuela (NFI), the discovery earlier in March 
2008 of depleted uranium in a FARC safehouse, and the 
"handling of arms" (NFI) in the region as actions in which 
Iran may have been involved, adding that this is all hard to 
prove.  Chairman Fortes also said that while Iran has used 
Venezuela to open doors in Latin America, it is starting to 
"find its own channels" and will not need Venezuela any more. 
 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Iranian Diplomat: China Will Move Against the Dollar 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶6. (S) Chairman Fortes reported that Sheikh-Attar told him 
the world financial order had flipped from what it was 30 
years ago, and now countries such as China and Japan were 
able to make investments that were unthinkable in the past, 
and suggested that Brazil's economic and security 
relationships ought to depart from Brazil's traditional 
alignment with the U.S. and Europe.  Sheikh-Attar also 
predicted that after the Olympics, China would "start making 
moves" to cause a collapse in the value of the dollar by 
selling off dollars and investments in the U.S. either 
suddenly or gradually.  The Iranian told Chairman Fortes that 
the Chinese actions would "be more powerful than an atomic 
bomb."  In reference to this and the other statements by the 
Iranian diplomat, Fortes said, "I just look at him and think 
he is a fool."  Asked whether he thought the Iranian knew 
this information about China or was speculating, Fortes said 
he could not evaluate that and surmised that "China and Iran 
must be talking to some extent." 
 
¶7.  (S) Comment:  Chairman Fortes is one of a handful of 
Brazilian legislators with serious concerns about Iranian 
overtures in the region, which he sees as an effort to 
exploit Latin America's vulnerabilities to advance Iranian 
interests by undermining the U.S. in the region.  As Fortes 
previously said (ref B), there are many dots to connect that 
reveal a pattern of destabilizing efforts by Iran.  The 
statements by the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, and the 
Deputy Petroleum Minister before him (ref B), reveal the 
broad outlines of Iran's plan to foster hostility toward the 
U.S. and reorient the region, working through Chavez, Correa, 
and Morales.  While the Brazilian Foreign Ministry seeks a 
"correct" relationship with Iran (ref A), the Congress has 
little power to influence the policy except by stalling 
ambassadorial appointments and appealing to public opinion, 
neither of which Senator Fortes has yet done.  A significant 
development such as a visit by Ahmedi-Nejad to Brazil could 
prompt him and a few others to demand explanations from the 
Foreign Ministry about its Iran policy. 
SOBEL