GENERAL GUIDANCE ON IRAN PARTICIPATION IN

S E C R E T BUDAPEST 000772 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR ISN CATR-MEG MITCHELL AND LOU GANEM, SCA, AND EUR/CE JAMIE LAMORE E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/01/2018 TAGS: PARM PREL HU SUBJECT: GENERAL GUIDANCE ON IRAN PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL DEFENSE EXPOS REF: SECSTATE 67212 Classified By: PolOff Ryan C. Leong, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S) Ref talking points were delivered on August 1 to Dr. Bernadett Kollar, Department of International Organizations at the GoH Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kollar had no immediate response other than she understood entirely the need to deny a venue for Iran's continued overt and covert weapons procurement, sales and transfers. She will also pass the message on to her colleagues in the MFA non-proliferation department. ¶2. (C) The main defense expo held in Hungary is the "C D, Central European Defense Equipment and Aviation Exhibition" organized every other year in November by Hungexpo. The 9th exhibition will be organized in 2009. When Embassy officers visited the last show in November 2007, Raytheon was the only U.S. exhibitor. General Dynamic European Land Systems, Austria was also present in addition to two exhibitors from the Czech Republic, three from Poland, two from Germany, two from Italy, one from Switzerland, and one from Norway; the remaining exhibitors were Hungarian. A comparatively small arms expo, it was much more interesting for U.S. companies before Hungary made the decision to purchase the Swedish-made Gripen multi-role fighters instead of Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighter. Lockheed had previously attended the show. Foley