VZCZCXRO3667
OO RUEHAG RUEHDBU RUEHROV RUEHSL
DE RUEHKB #0927/01 3350648
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 010648Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2091
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES  PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3690
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0114
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 0959
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 1530

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000927 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/CARC, DAS KAIDANOW 
DEFENSE FOR DASD WALLANDER, MELLEBY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2034 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ENRG IR AF AM AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN:  FOREIGN MINISTER DISCUSSES POSSIBLE 
OEF CONTRIBUTION, IRAN WITH DASD WALLANDER 
 
Classified By: Charge Donald Lu, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (S) DASD Dr. Celeste Wallander met with Azerbaijani 
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku November 23.  On 
Afghanistan, the Minister argued against large troop 
increases but did not totally close off the possibility of 
EUCOM assessing Azerbaijani forces for a TEP.  He said 
Azerbaijan had confirmed the presence of foreigners on the 
Iran Alborz semisubmersible drilling rig and questioned DASD 
Wallender about U.S. views on Iranian intentions and Russia's 
equities in the situation.  He continued to press for U.S. 
sales of air defense equipment and said Azerbaijan would be 
open to cost-sharing with the United States to upgrade the 
Nasosnaya air base for expanded cooperation with Afghanistan 
logistics, but explained that security concerns on Baku's 
part made expanded use of Heydar Aliyev airport problematic. 
End Summary. 
 
Afghanistan/TEP/NDN and Airfields 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Mammadyarov told DASD Wallander that Azerbaijan doubts 
that increasing U.S. and NATO force levels in Afghanistan 
will have the desired effect.  Citing reports of Ambassador 
Eikenberry's opposition to sending additional troops, the 
Minister said Azerbaijan held the same view. (Note:  In a 
separate meeting with Charge, Mammadyarov cited the 
Ambassador's reported views as a reason for instructing 
Deputy Foreign Minister Azimov to insist at the November 4 
Security Dialogue in Washington that any TEP for Azerbaijan 
be de-linked from a commitment to deploy to Afghanistan. 
This does not ring true, as November 4 preceded press reports 
of Amb. Eikenberry's views.  End Note.)  Mammadyarov argued 
that more troops would alienate the Afghan people and that 
the civil and social element of the mission has eclipsed the 
military side in importance.  DASD Wallander did not question 
the importance of social issues and empowering the Afghan 
government, but maintained that those goals can only be 
achieved with greater security. 
 
¶3. (C) On the TEP, Mammadyarov asked for assurances that 
accepting the assessment team from EUCOM would not entail a 
commitment from Azerbaijan, and also that if a TEP went 
forward, that it could be de-linked from an Afghanistan 
commitment.  DASD Wallander and DATT explained that TEP is 
funded through Coalition Support Funds (CSF), which are 
linked to service with ISAF.  However, she added, the 
assessment visit implies absolutely no commitment, and would 
gather the information necessary for Baku to decide if a TEP 
is right for Azerbaijan.  Mammadyarov asked to have DASD 
Wallander's answers in writing as a response to his 
Ministry's diplomatic note of November 16, in which Baku laid 
out its conditions for moving forward with the assessment 
visit. 
 
¶4. (C) DASD Wallander also praised Azerbaijan's contributions 
to the Northern Distribution Network (NDN) and expressed U.S. 
interest in increasing cargo throughput in Azerbaijan, 
perhaps by expanding access to Heydar Aliyev airport in Baku, 
or at the airport in Azerbaijan's second-largest city of 
Ganja.  Mammadyarov said that he was "very reluctant" to 
expand U.S. military access to Azerbaijani civilian 
facilities, alluding to increased threats of terrorism 
against sites known to be hosting U.S. assets.  However, he 
floated the idea of jointly upgrading the Azerbaijani air 
base at Nasosnaya, northwest of Baku, indicating Azerbaijan 
would be open to sharing the considerable cost of such a 
project. 
 
 
Iran and Alborz 
--------------- 
 
 
BAKU 00000927  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶5. (S) Mammadyarov told DASD Wallander that Azerbaijan had 
confirmed the presence of foreigners on board the Iran Alborz 
semisubmersible drilling rig, which has moved north of the 
Iran-USSR treaty line in the south Caspian toward the 
disputed Alborz (Alov) offshore field.  He said that 
Azerbaijan had intercepted communications and that he was 
"shocked" to find that most of the rig was manned by 
"Norwegians."  Mammadyarov asked DASD Wallander how far Iran 
could go "irritating the situation."  He said that Iranian 
vessels had not defied challenges by the Azerbaijan Coast 
Guard yet, however he had been briefed that Iran was about to 
deploy an anti-ship missile-armed vessel to the area.  (DAO 
Comment:  DIA will continue to share information on Iranian 
naval developments with Azerbaijan under the auspices of an 
intelligence exchange program, recently extended by both 
parties.  End Comment.) 
 
¶6. (S) Mammadyarov also asked whether Iranian behavior in the 
Persian Gulf was so provocative and how DASD Wallander 
believed Russia viewed the situation.  She replied that it 
did not seem sensible for Iran to raise tensions in the 
Caspian amid the ongoing tensions surrounding its nuclear 
program.  DASD Wallander confirmed to Mammadyarov that the 
United States supports plans to transfer spent nuclear fuel 
from Iranian facilities to Russia.  Russia has always 
lamented the lack of clarity in cross-Caspian relations, she 
continued, and added that Russian-Iranian relations were 
complicated by the disclosure of the Qom facility, which 
caught Moscow off-guard.  Mammadyarov agreed, opining that 
Iran had "humiliated" Russia by rejecting deals that Moscow 
had negotiated in Iran's interest.  He added that the 
domestic politics, combined with the Supreme Leader's 
declining health, is also a factor. 
 
Arms Sales 
---------- 
 
¶7. (C) The Minister repeated to DASD Wallander Azerbaijan's 
interest in purchasing air defense systems from the United 
States, and said the Defense Ministry had been working on a 
new list of desirable items.  However, he complained that 
Section 907 made this cooperation "problematic."  DASD 
Wallander responded that 907 had not prevented the range of 
cooperation currently going on, nor would it interfere with a 
TEP, if Azerbaijan went that route. 
 
¶8.  (U) This message has been cleared by DASD Wallander. 
LU