S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 000174TAGS: PREL MOPS MARR FR IR AF NATOSUBJECT: SECRETARY OF DEFENSE GATES'S MEETING WITH FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER KOUCHNER, FEBRUARY 8, 2010¶1. (S/NF) SUMMARY: At the request of the French Ministry of ForeignAffairs, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (SecDef) met with French FMBernard Kouchner in Paris on February 8, 2010. Discussions includedhow to persuade the Chinese and others to support sanctions againstIran, and the importance of targeting the Iranian government rather than the people....¶2. (S/NF) Kouchner said that the U.S. and France were working welltogether in New York on an Iran sanctions resolution - all the problemsnow are with the Chinese. Kouchner had met Chinese FM Yang twice the previous week, but said that right now it was difficult to predict whether the Chinese would veto or abstain. He noted that the Chinesewere furious over the U.S.-Taiwan arms deal, which would make itdifficult to get a resolution passed in February....¶4. (S/NF) SecDef urged Kouchner not to exaggerate the Chinese concern over Taiwan - they would need a little more time and, in the end, an abstention might be a good enough result for us. He added that we should urge the Saudis to weigh in with Beijing since China has more atstake in its relations with Saudi Arabia than Iran. He commented that the Saudis always want to "fight the Iranians to the last American," but that now it is time for them to get into the game.¶5. (S/NF) Raising his concerns about bringing non-permanent UNSC members on board, SecDef reported that in Ankara he had impressed upon PM Erdogan the dangers of proliferation to other Middle East countries or an Israeli strike if the Iranian nuclear program couldn't bestopped. Kouchner expressed his doubts about Turkey's desire for a constructive role in region, describing Erdogan's comments to Ahmadinejad defending the Iranian nuclear program as dangerous.......¶8. (S/NF) Further explaining the U.S. position, SecDef said that while our understanding of the Iranian leadership was opaque, we do know that they do not like to be isolated. The USG would soon be designating several IRGC companies under the Iran Sanctions Act. His own view was that it was important to get the UNSCR passed quickly, even if it were not as harsh as we might wish. Once a resolution is passed, he explained, it will offer a legal platform on which the EU and individual states can impose harsher sanctions.¶9. (S/NF) Kouchner agreed, but added that another problem was to get the nine votes needed in the UNSC. He said that Lebanon was one of France's prime targets in this respect, but he doubted that France would be able to bring the resolution to a vote during its presidency, as February is a very short month....
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