IRAN KERMAN - UAE RELEASES ONE CONTAINER, HOLDS

S E C R E T ABU DHABI 000906 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR T, ISN, ADN NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2032 TAGS: PARM PREL ETTC MNUC IR CH AE SUBJECT: IRAN KERMAN - UAE RELEASES ONE CONTAINER, HOLDS THE OTHER REF: A. ABU DHABI 887 ¶B. STATE 72884 ¶C. ABU DHABI 800 Classified By: Robert Dolce, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission for reasons 1.4 b, c, and d. ¶1. (S) On May 31, MFA Director for International Organizations Yacub Al-Hosani (a member of the UAE Counterproliferation Task Force) told Econchief that the authorities had opened both containers. The first container, consigned to Bank Sepah, contained electronic cables from Shanghai Technical Company. He added that the exact nature of the goods and the companies involved were still under investigation. Since the container was consigned to a designated entity, he said, the UAE would likely want to return it to China. He noted that he would be contacting the Chinese Ambassador next week on the issue and to follow-up on the remaining container from the M/V Iran Tehran. ¶2. (S) Al-Hosani also said that the UAE had examined container two, which contained 11 tools/machines related to aluminum cutting. He stated that investigators had determined that these tools were not controllable and could be found in "the market anywhere." The UAE had, therefore, released the container. ¶3. (S) Also on May 31, Dubai Customs told Senior DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Representative Dubai that the contents of the M/V Iran Kerman container were identical to the M/V Iran Tehran container. (Comment: This may be a duplicate order to the one that is still being held. End Comment.) ¶4. (S) Al-Hosani also expressed frustration with the Chinese Authorities, saying that he did not know how to deal with them. He added that the Chinese still had not responded to the UAE's request to accept the return of the container from the M/V Iran Tehran and allowed yet another shipment to come through. He stated that -- personally -- he was contemplating whether an approach to the UNSC would be effective, though he stressed that he had not yet made that recommendation to Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdulla bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. Al-Hosani added that the UAEG might raise the issue of how to deal with China during the upcoming Counterproliferation Task Force working group. SISON