DEMARCHE DELIVERED: IRAN - IMPLEMENTING THE TRAVEL

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 001240 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR ISN/RA RISA MONGIELLO AND RICHARD NEPHEW. E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2018 TAGS: MNUC KNNP IR UNSC TH SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: IRAN - IMPLEMENTING THE TRAVEL BAN AND TRAVEL VIGILANCE REQUIREMENTS CONTAINED IN UNSCRS 1737, 1747, AND 1803 REF: STATE 34974 Classified By: Political Officer Lisa Kaleczyc; reason: 1.4 (b) and (d) . ¶1. (C) Poloffs met with Middle East Division Counselor of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA),Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs Dao Vibulpanich on 22 April 2008 to discuss the points outlined in reftel. Vibulpanich advised that following passage of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, such as the UNSC resolution 1803 adopted in March 2008 concerning Iran, the Thai MFA Department of International Organizations (IO) assembled a meeting of relevant government agencies (commerce, customs, intelligence, security, etc.) to convey the new guidelines and requirements. Both the IO lead meeting and subsequent reporting to the United Nations on measures taken to address the resolutions were mandated by the Thai government to occur within 60 days of passage of the resolution. Vibulpanich advised that the new travel-related provisions and list of names, including the five individuals designated for a travel ban, had been discussed and distributed to the relevant government organizations at the IO meeting held. ¶2. (C) Vibulpanich advised that all Iranians must obtain a visa prior to travel to Thailand and that the Thai MFA provides all its embassies with a list of persons of concern to consult prior to visa issuance. If a visa applicant is listed as a person of concern, or if the visa officer has other reason to suspect the intentions of the visa applicant, the embassy submits the visa application to MFA for relay to the Thai police and intelligence entities for a security review of the applicant (if the embassy does not engage those organizations directly). ¶3. (C) Noting the ambiguity of the resolutions' call for "vigilance" and "restraint" regarding visa issuance for the designated individuals, Vibulpanich advised that Thailand did not automatically restrict the persons of concern from entering Thailand. Regarding the list of the five individuals designated for a travel ban under UNSCR 1803, Vibulpanich commented that the UNSC should have provided birth dates for the individuals identified to assist countries in their efforts to comply with the travel ban. Vibulpanich also noted the challenges Middle Eastern names can present to vetting efforts given name and spelling variations. ¶4. (C) Vibulpanich advised that the Middle East Department had limited contact with and engagement of the Thai police and intelligence entities responsible for screening the names of persons of concern. Vibulpanich was unaware of the specifics of the vetting process and the level of expertise the security and intelligence entities had specific to Iran (e.g. Farsi language ability to aid in screening). Regarding the U.S. offer of assistance on questions related to implementation of the travel-related provisions in UNSCRs 1737, 1747, and 1803, Vibulpanich agreed to consider and discuss the offer with other Thai security and intelligence entities as appropriate. ¶5. (U) Embassy Bangkok's point of contact on this issue is Political Officer Lisa Kaleczyc. JOHN