M/V TEHRAN - UAE WANTS TO RETURN CONTAINER

S E C R E T ABU DHABI 000734 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR T, ISN, AND NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/03/2032 TAGS: PARM PREL MNUC ETTC IR CH AE SUBJECT: M/V TEHRAN - UAE WANTS TO RETURN CONTAINER REF: A. ABU DHABI 728 ¶B. STATE 58623 Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 (b, c, and d ). ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see para 4. ¶2. (S) Dubai Customs unloaded three containers from the M/V Iran Tehran the night of May 2 and is inspecting the containers. MFA Director for International Organizations Yacoub Al-Hosani (a member of the UAE Counterproliferation Task Force) called Econchief on May 3 to report that the first container holds "equipment" destined for the Al-Sanam company (SIG),which is UNSCR 1747 designated for ties to the Iranian missile program. He said that the UAEG's intention is to return the container (and possibly the others depending on the findings) to China as quickly as possible. ¶3. (S) Al-Hosani said that the UAEG needed the USG to inform the Chinese authorities immediately about the shipment and to convince China to receive the goods. Al-Hosani said that "they (the Chinese) need to take it, because of the UN resolutions," but that the UAE needed help from the USG conveying the message. He stressed that the UAE did not want a repeat of the M/V Victory incident, where the UAE held on to the goods for over a month before the Chinese company would accept them. Al-Hosani said that they did not want to "face the Chinese and the Iranians" alone. Since the UAE had stopped the shipment based on the USG's request, he said, the UAEG needed the USG to break the news to China first. ¶4. (S) Action request: Request that Department instruct Embassy Beijing to inform the Chinese authorities about the shipment and urge the Chinese to accept the return of the shipment as quickly as possible. Al-Hosani requested that we contact him as soon as possible, even over the UAEG's Friday/Saturday weekend. Embassy point of contact is Econchief Oliver John, who can be reached on 971-50-443-6626 (cell). SISON