DEMARCHE RESPONSE: IRAN ARMS DEAL CANCELED

S E C R E T GABORONE 000836 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS FOR ISN/CATR, AF/RSA, AF/S (MUNCY) E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2016 TAGS: BC ETRD ETTC IR PARM PREL SUBJECT: DEMARCHE RESPONSE: IRAN ARMS DEAL CANCELED REF: A. GABORONE 786 ¶B. STATE 96298 Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES L. AROIAN, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) . ¶1. (S) Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director for Europe and North America, Sesara George, informed the Embassy on 22 June of the cancellation of Botswana's small arms ammunition purchase from Iran (refs). Earlier in the week he had telephoned to tell us that the MFA had confirmed the existence of the order and was exploring options for cancellation. ¶2. (S) On the evening of 16 June, the Embassy had also informally conveyed the demarche information to presidential spokesman and confidant Jeffrey Ramsay, who expressed surprise and vowed to look into the matter. He said he fully understood the possible ramifications of going ahead with the deal, and theorized the whole thing had been put together far enough below senior levels to have escaped serious scrutiny. He, too, telephoned earlier this week to assure us the government was working on a full response to the demarche. ¶3. (S) Sesara George was clearly pleased to convey news that the order has been canceled, but he did not offer details on how the order had come to be placed or how the decision to cancel it had been taken. He did mention, though, that the provenance of the ammunition had not been immediately apparent from the purchase contract, which he said was with a British corporation. He was not able to recall the name of the company. AROIAN