DUTCH VIEWS ON ADDITIONAL IRANIAN DESIGNATIONS

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000343 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN, T, EUR, EAP, NEA TREASURY FOR TFFC AND OFAC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KNNP PREL PARM KTFN KN IR NL SUBJECT: DUTCH VIEWS ON ADDITIONAL IRANIAN DESIGNATIONS REF: A. STATE 19366 ¶B. THE HAGUE 00304 THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU) Both Foreign Affairs and Finance officials say the Dutch will not sanction additional Iranian entities until the EU completes negotiations over implementing regulations for UNSCR 1737. Huib Mijnarends, Senior Policy Officer responsible for sanction issues, Terrorism and New Threats Unit, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA),told Econoff February 21 he had passed the nonpaper (ref A) to Dutch PermReps in Brussels. Mijnarends said that the EU started negotiating implementing regulations February 19, which would probably go "even further" than UNSCR 1737 in two main areas: first, by denying student visas to any Iranians linked to Iran's proliferation or WMD programs; and second, by providing the option for member states to suggest additional entities beyond those in UNSCR 1737. Since negotiations are ongoing, Mijnarends noted the GONL is not ready to discuss additions to the annex -- including those designated by the USG under E.O. 13382. ¶2. (SBU) In a February 22 conversation, Erik Ligthart, Deputy Director, Financial Integrity Unit, Ministry of Finance (MOF) confirmed Mijnarend's assessment that EU implementing legislation needed to be completed before the Dutch would consider additional entities. He added that MFA would lead any GONL action regarding UNSCR 1737. Ligthart also declined to comment on the specific entities designated in ref A, but said MOF would not oppose future proposals that include adequate identifiers -- such as date of birth and passport numbers -- and in the case of bulk designations, adequate justification (see ref B for earlier post reporting on identifiers). BLAKEMAN