MTAG 5-96: POTENTIAL UAV COOPERATION BETWEEN AN

S E C R E T VIENNA 002931 SIPDIS FOR NP/CBM, EUR/AGS, AND EUR/PRA E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2015 TAGS: PARM PREL MNUC ETTC AU MTCRE SUBJECT: MTAG 5-96: POTENTIAL UAV COOPERATION BETWEEN AN AUSTRIAN FIRM AND IRAN (S) REF: STATE 158054 Classified By: Economic-Political Counselor Gregory E. Phillips for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d) ¶1. (S) On August 30, EconPolCouns and Econ Unit Chief delivered reftel talking points to Helmut Krehlik, Head of the Ministry of Economy's Export and Import Control Division, and to Dorothea Auer, Head of the Foreign Ministry's Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Division. Krehlik said he was aware Qods Aviation Industries was interested in obtaining unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Schiebel Electronische Geraete GmbH, but he was unaware of an imminent visit by a Qod's delegation to Austria. Krehlik said he was surprised Schiebel wanted to proceed with the export license application. According to Krehlik, he had cautioned Schiebel management that doing business in Iran could affect Schiebel business operations in the U.S. Krehlik told us that Schiebel would have "no chance" of receiving the license from his office. ¶2. (S) Post has heard from other GoA sources and from Schiebel officials that Schiebel wanted to pursue a pro forma request for the export license, hoping the GoA would deny it. In this scenario, Schiebel could claim it was the GoA, not Schiebel, that had prevented the sale of UAVs. Hans Schiebel has told us directly in the past that he would not "risk" his U.S. operations by doing business with Iran. Brown