UAEG Committed to Implementing UNSCR 1803

S E C R E T ABU DHABI 000445 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR T, ISN, AND NEA/ARP COMMERCE FOR BIS E.O. 12958: DECL 3/1/2018 TAGS: PARM PREL ETTC AE SUBJECT: UAEG Committed to Implementing UNSCR 1803 Reference: a) STATE 34974, B) STATE 33674, C) STATE 21770, D) STATE 29096, e) STATE 29464, F) STATE 29098, G) ABU DHABI 295 (U) Classified by Martin Quinn, Charge d'Affaires a.i., for reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (S) Econchief met with MFA International Organizations Director (and MFA representative on the UAE's Counterproliferation Task Force) on March 27 and again on April 4 (for the third non-proliferation related meeting with Al-Hosani in three weeks) to reinforce the importance of swift and effective implementation of the provisions in UNSCR 1803. Al-Hosani reiterated the UAEG's commitments to enforcing all of the relevant UNSCRs on Iran. He also emphasized that the UAE did not want the Iranians to obtain the cargos it needed to develop nuclear weapons. ¶2. (S) Al-Hosani took on board all the information with regard to UNSCR 1803. He explained that the relevant provisions of the UNSCRs were circulated to different government agencies and departments. For example, he said, the names of individuals subject to travel bans were circulated to immigration authorities in each emirate as well as to the UAE Embassies overseas. ¶3. (S) With regard to the financial provisions of UNSCR 1803, econchief explained that the Central Bank had been reluctant to issue formal financial advisories on Iran pursuant to Financial Action Task Force recommendations, but urged reconsideration now that there was a formal UNSCR calling for enhanced scrutiny of Iranian banks. Econchief also passed Al-Hosani information on the deceptive practices of Iranian banks. Al-Hosani promised to pass this information on to the Central Bank along with a recommendation to take appropriate action. On March 30, Treasury Attache made a similar approach to Ministry of Finance Under Secretary Younis Khouri. Post will also use the April 7-9 MENA/FATF meeting and visit of Treasury Assistant Secretary Glaser to emphasize the point with Central Bank Governor Sultan Nasser Al-Suwaidi. Quinn