PSI: MISSILE-RELATED TRANSFER TO IRAN VIA TURKEY

S E C R E T ANKARA 003053 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NP/CBM, EUR/SE, EUR/PRA E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2015 TAGS: PARM PREL ETTC MNUC TSPA IR TU MTCRE SUBJECT: PSI: MISSILE-RELATED TRANSFER TO IRAN VIA TURKEY REF: A. STATE 99755 ¶B. ANKARA 2836 ¶C. ANKARA 2816 Classified By: Acting DCM James R. Moore for reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (S) MFA Acting Undersecretary Nabi Sensoy raised the interdiction of missile-related items destined for Iran with the Ambassador and PolMilCouns on the margins of a lunch in honor of Senator Chuck Hagel May 31. Sensoy informed the Ambassador that the GOT was running out of time to hold this shipment and Turkey wanted China to take the shipment back soon. He thought Turkey could hold onto the shipment for about another week. He had already conveyed the same message to the UK Ambassador. PolMilCouns informed Sensoy that Washington thought Turkey might be able to use MTCR catch-all export controls and that he would be talking to MFA officials about it later in the day. ¶2. (S) PolMilCouns met with MFA Disarmament Department Head Osman Yavuzalp that afternoon and provided ref A talking points. Yavuzalp said Sensoy had instructed him following the lunch to reiterate that the GOT was holding the shipment now, but that it could not indefinitely. He hoped that the Chinese would agree to take back the shipment soon. As a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Beijing had obligations that it should meet. He asked whether the USG had any indication of Chinese authorities' thinking. PolMilCouns responded that we were letting the British take the lead with the Chinese and therefore had no information to provide on Beijing's attitude. Nonetheless, missile technology proliferation has been a difficult subject with the Chinese over the years, and Turkey should consider ways to deal with the shipment, such as using catch all controls, if the answer from China was no. ¶3. (S) Yavuzalp undertook to inform Sensoy about the specifics of our proposed course of action and to consult with legal and other authorities about the technical feasibility of that approach. However, he continued, MFA still saw the Chinese option (taking back the shipment) as the best alternative. The original British demarche had mentioned a previous case of this occurring, and this gave Ankara hope the same would occur with this shipment. PolMilCouns observed that one precedent did not constitute a pattern, and urged Yavuzalp to consider seriously an approach that did not rely on China. PolMilCouns expressed the hope that this matter could be favorably resolved prior to the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister's meetings in Washington June 8. Yavuzalp reiterated that he would consult with the appropriate authorities on the catch all controls approach. EDELMAN