AUSTRIA: NO APPROVAL TO EXPORT MORE SNIPER RIFLES

S E C R E T VIENNA 000406 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/AGS, EUR/PRA, NP/ECNP E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2015 TAGS: PARM PREL ETTC AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIA: NO APPROVAL TO EXPORT MORE SNIPER RIFLES REF: A. (A) VIENNA 331 ¶B. (B) VIENNA 165 ¶C. (C) STATE 9770 ¶D. (D) VIENNA 37 ¶E. (E) 04 STATE 272249 ¶F. (F) 04 VIENNA 4393 ¶G. (G) 04 VIENNA 4354 ¶H. (H) 04 STATE 263141 Classified By: AMBASSADOR W.L. LYONS BROWN. REASON: 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (S) Summary: Diplomatic Advisor to the Chancellor Hans Peter Manz assured the Ambassador on February 10 that the Austrian government would not/not authorize Steyr-Mannlicher to export any further sniper rifles to Iran. He also noted that the government would not permit the export of handguns to Iran. End Summary. ¶2. (S) Manz met with the Ambassador and DCM in a follow-up to the February 3 meeting (ref a) in which Ambassador conveyed U.S. request for formal Austrian assurances that no rifle shipments beyond the 800 weapons already on their way would be permitted. ¶3. (S) Serial Numbers: Both Manz and the Ambassador regretted the refusal of Steyr-Mannlicher President Fuerlinger to provide the serial numbers for the exported rifles (ref a). Manz said the government had done its best to persuade Fuerlinger otherwise, but could not force him to waive the company,s data privacy rights. ¶4. (S) Further Shipments: The Ambassador asked whether the Austrian government was now prepared to confirm officially that no further rifle shipments to Iran would be authorized. Manz responded that, contrary to press reports, there were no/no further rifle shipments arising out of Steyr-Mannlicher's original 2004 application currently in the government licensing process. In last year,s request for an export license, Steyr-Mannlicher had asked to ship 2,000 rifles to Iran. After deciding that this number was excessive to Iran,s requirements, the Austrian government limited Steyr-Mannlicher,s export license to a total of 800 rifles. Manz said that the licensing process is finished; should the company still want to export any number above the 800 rifles, it must submit a new export license application. Manz said that the ministries in charge of vetting export requests (Interior, Defense, and Foreign Affairs) had assured him that their response to a further rifle export license application would be "a clear and emphatic no.8 Manz clarified that all it took to disapprove an export application was the non-concurrence of one of the three ministries; a &no8 from any of the ministries required the government to refuse the request. ¶5. (S) As he had previously, Manz championed the legality and the rationality of the government,s decision to allow Steyr-Mannlicher to sell a limited number of the rifles to Iran for the purposes of border control. Manz asserted that the three ministries administered Austria,s export laws with great attention and were extremely careful to ensure that approved exports fully met the strict criteria of the regulations. Steyr-Mannlicher,s application, like other sensitive transfers, had been rigorously vetted. As an example of Austria,s continued alertness to and concern for the possible end use of weapons, Manz said the Austrian government &would never deliver handguns to the Iranians8 (ref b) because they could too easily be used for purposes other than the one listed in the end user certificate. ¶6. (S) Comment: Manz,s assurances to the Ambassador that there will be no further shipments of the Steyr-Mannlicher rifles are the authoritative word we have been seeking. His comment that the Austrians would not allow handguns to be shipped to Iran is an added plus, since we had heard that Glock and other manufacturers were interested in such exports. Although we will continue to work on obtaining the serial numbers of the 800 exported rifles, Manz,s comments made it apparent that the government does not intend to exert more pressure on Steyr-Mannlicher to be helpful to us. Company president Fuerlinger, meanwhile, has staked out such a firm "Steyr-Mannlicher vs. the U.S.8 position in the press that it appears unlikely he will provide the numbers absent the outrageous &deal8 he has offered to the U.S. (ref a). Brown