Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09MUNICH257
2009-10-08 13:46:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Munich
Cable title:  

BAVARIA/IRAN: ABORTED BUSINESS TRIP EMBARRASSES

Tags:  KNNP MNUC PARM IR GM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5444
OO RUEHBC RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHFL RUEHKUK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP
RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHTRO
DE RUEHMZ #0257/01 2811346
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 081346Z OCT 09
FM AMCONSUL MUNICH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4935
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV IMMEDIATE 0443
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MUNICH 000257 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR P - STEPHEN MULL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2019
TAGS: KNNP MNUC PARM IR GM
SUBJECT: BAVARIA/IRAN: ABORTED BUSINESS TRIP EMBARRASSES
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

REF: SECSTATE 103218

Classified By: Consul General Conrad Tribble for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MUNICH 000257

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR P - STEPHEN MULL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2019
TAGS: KNNP MNUC PARM IR GM
SUBJECT: BAVARIA/IRAN: ABORTED BUSINESS TRIP EMBARRASSES
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

REF: SECSTATE 103218

Classified By: Consul General Conrad Tribble for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
)


1. (C) Summary: A German business delegation cancelled an
October 1 trip to Iran after interventions from the U.S.
Consulate in Munich and the German government. The Chamber
of Commerce and Industry (IHK) in Bavaria planned to send the
delegation to Teheran on October 1 but cancelled on September
28 citing "Iranian mis-steps," including the recent Iranian
rocket tests, the revelation of the uranium enrichment
facility near Qom, and intentions by the Iranian government
to "spin" the visit in the media. According to senior IHK
representatives, political pressure from the USG, the
Chancellor, and the German Foreign Ministry alone would
"absolutely not" have dissuaded them from making the trip,
which the IHK staunchly defended as being "perfectly legal."
The Embassy was positively surprised by the level and
seriousness of the German government's interventions from the
MFA and the Chancellor's office that featured prominently in
a detailed IHK chronology of conversations the IHK had in
the days leading up to the decision not to go. Although they
were loath to admit it, these must have affected the IHK
decision to abort the trip. End Summary.


2. (C) Embassy Berlin Poloff was tipped off by an Israeli
Embassy contact about an imminent trip to Iran by a Bavarian
business delegation led by the Munich Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (IHK). Immediately thereafter, on September 25,
Consulate General Munich FCS chief called Alexander Hoeckle
(Deputy Director of the Foreign Trade Department for the IHK)
and told him that "timing of such a business trip could not
be worse and that politically it sent all the wrong signals
to the Government of Iran." By September 28, the IHK had
cancelled the trip. On October 7, Consulate General Pol-Econ
Chief and the Economic Specialist met Dr. Manfred
Goessl(Director, International Economic Affairs and Deputy
Chief Executive Officer of the IHK) and Hoeckle to reiterate
USG concerns and to ask them "what were they thinking when
they planned such a trip."



3. (C) Goessl (PLEASE PROTECT) confidentially shared a
detailed chronology he had compiled, listing the various
interventions from the Consulate, the German Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MFA),the German Ministry of Economics,
Members of the Parliament, and the Chancellor's office at the
highest levels, as well as from the Israeli Embassy and the
press (faxed to Embassy Berlin on October 7 - please
protect). Although he had documented every call over a
period of days, he denied that they had had any influence on
the group,s decision. These calls included strong
objections on September 22 from the MFA U/S for
Commerce-equivalent von Fritsch, from the Chancellor's office
on September 28, and from Chancellor Merkel's National
Security Advisor Heusgen, as well as from the American
Consulate General Munich on September 25. Goessl added that
the MFA had rescinded an invitation to the delegation to
attend the German Ambassador's National Day reception in
Tehran. All this pressure notwithstanding, Goessl insisted
that "Iranian mis-steps" were the proximate cause for their
backing out. The news of a second missile test on September
28 and the revelation of the uranium lab near Qom surprised
the IHK, as did information that Iran was going to exploit
the trip in the press. Concerns about a press angle were
confirmed after a BILD reporter called IHK Munich and said
the Iranian Embassy had announced the impending travel of the
Munich group.


4. (C) Goessl stressed that the IHK was a "non-governmental,
apolitical organization that served the interests of member
companies," some of whom had requested the IHK to lead a
delegation to Iran "to learn first hand about the situation
in the country." Goessl refused to share the names or
affiliations of participating business people, but he
suggested they included Bavarian producers of "hotel bed
pillows, medical equipment, and water management." According
to the agenda shared with us by the IHK (faxed to Embassy
Berlin, please protect),the group was scheduled to visit the
German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, German business
representatives, the German Ambassador, the Iranian Chamber
of Commerce and Mines, the Siemens power plant at Rudeshur,
the Investment Office at the Iranian Ministry for Economics
and Finance, the factory of a "Mamut Karaj," the mayor of
Teheran, German press representatives in Iran, and
representatives of the German-speaking Evangelische
(Protestant) Church.

MUNICH 00000257 002 OF 002




5. (C) Goessl insisted that the "trip was perfectly legal"
but he agreed with Poloff that, by the end, "it did not pass
the smell test." However, he accused the federal German
government of having a double standard. "On one hand,
individual Germans may travel to Iran and do business, but on
the other hand, this must be kept quiet and not disclosed to
the public."


6. (C) Goessl stressed repeatedly that business ties were a
good way to promote peace, that is, "change through trade"
("Wandel durch Handel"). Iranian businessmen "object to the
regime because they have ruined the economy," Goessl said,
suggesting these were good contacts now and in the future.
Moreover, he reported that German businessmen with
long-standing ties to small and medium sized Iranian business
counterparts say, "It is important for us to stay in touch
with these people. Should the situation improve within the
next few years, companies will want new business with Iran.
In that case, Iranians will remember having been left high
and dry in difficult times." Goessl explained that the
Munich IHK's strong ties with Iran go back years. For
example, the IHK regularly organizes business administration
seminars by professors from the University of Wurzburg and
from the training school at Kempten for Iranian managers.

Comment
--------------


7. (C) The IHK was embarrassed and angry about the exposure
and then cancellation of this trip, but they could have
anticipated the crisis earlier if they had a sense of
Realpolitik in things Iranian. The timing turned out to be
terrible -- the delegation would have landed in Teheran on
October 1 as their own government was sitting down at the
table with Iran for P5 1 talks. It should have been clear
that the GoI would try to exploit a visit at this point, and
the size or importance of the businesses involved would not
have mattered. It was also foreseeable that German media
would accuse the Bavarians of "doing business with the
Mullahs." The IHK has learned that its work in Iran has a
strong political component whether they like it or not.


8. (C) The Embassy was positively surprised by the level and
seriousness of the German government's interventions both
from the MFA and the Chancellor's office. According to IHK's
own internal chronology, NSA-equivalent Heusgen told the IHK
that "German businesses should not be going to Iran now, as
it counteracts the ongoing negotiations," and even the MFA,s
von Fritsch said the trip was "politically undesirable"; he
was the one who called the delegation to "un-invite" them
from German national day celebrations at the Embassy in
Tehran. End Comment.
TRIBBLE