GERMAN RESPONSE TO IMPLEMENTING THE TRAVEL BAN AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 000435

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2018
TAGS: MNUC KNNP IR UNSC GM
SUBJECT: GERMAN RESPONSE TO IMPLEMENTING THE TRAVEL BAN AND
TRAVEL VIGILANCE REQUIREMENTS CONTAINED IN UNSCRS 1737,
1747, AND 1803

REF: A. STATE 34974

B. BERLIN 00405

Classified By: Global Affairs Unit Chief Craig M. Conway for
reasons 1.4 (b),(c),and (d).


1. (U) THIS IS AN ACTION REQUEST. PLEASE SEE PARA 7.


2. (C) SUMMARY: PolOff (Iran Watcher) and Global Affairs
Officer delivered reftel points to the German Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MFA) Iran Desk and the MFA Export Control
Division respectively. The Export Control Division
emphasized its robust scrutiny of Iranian visa applications,
particularly those that have been flagged as potential
proliferation concerns, and the inclusion of all names
mentioned in UNSCRs 1737, 1747, and 1803 on a special German
Government watchlist. The MFA Iran desk mentioned
difficulties obtaining visa identifiers for newly listed
Iranians in UNSCRs 1735, 1745, and 1803, often requiring
assistance from other German government agencies. The Iran
Desk also repeated its request for information about U.S.
efforts to implement UNSCR 1803. END SUMMARY.


3. (C) On April 4, Global Affairs officer delivered reftel
points to German MFA Export Control Division Desk Officer
Nancy Reck. Reck said the MFA Export Control Division only
screens visa applications that have been flagged by German
embassies as having potential proliferation concern. In
cases involving Iranian visa cases of proliferation concern,
Reck noted, applications are "heavily scrutinized" and have
been "for years" predating the UNSCRs (1737, 1747 and 1803).
Reck outlined the Export Control Division's role in these
visa cases as follows in paragraph 4.


4. (C) All Iranian applications received at the German
Embassy in Tehran are screened for security reasons by all
Schengen member countries via a limited access
information-sharing computer network. In Germany, the
Interior Ministry and security services also participate in
this screening. Should the applicant's name or description
match a list of persons of proliferation concern, the visa
application is flagged for the MFA's Export Control Division.
The MFA Export Control Division then reviews the visa
application and, as needed, redirects the application to
German security agencies for further investigation. These
agencies then report their opinions on the case back to the
Export Control Division. Finally, The Export Control
Division collects all these opinions and formulates a yes /
no response to send back to the German Embassy in Tehran.


5. (C) Reck described the watch list of persons of
proliferation concern as a subset of a larger database -- the
German Government's Early Warning List -- used to flag
foreign visa applications for the attention of the Export
Control Division. Reck stated that the names of all Iranian
persons of proliferation concern who have been included in a
UNSCR listing have already been added ("automatically") to
the watchlist.


6. (C) On April 3, MFA Iran Desk Officers Deike Potzel and
Florian Laudi described the process in similar terms, but
told PolOff that the MFA has had difficulty obtaining
complete sets of identifiers for listed individuals. In many
cases, the MFA requests identifier input from intelligence
agencies when evaluating new proposals for individuals to be
listed. Potzel repeated an earlier request (reported ref B)
for more information on U.S. implementation of UNSCR 1803.


7. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST: Post requests additional
information to respond to the query in para 6.
TIMKEN JR