RESPONDING TO GOJ QUESTIONS ABOUT IRANIAN

S E C R E T STATE 044624 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/01/2034 TAGS: MTCRE PARM PREL MNUC ETTC KSCA JA IR IT SUBJECT: RESPONDING TO GOJ QUESTIONS ABOUT IRANIAN SERVO-ACTUATOR PROCUREMENT EFFORTS (S) REF: A. ROME 472 ¶B. STATE 34798 ¶C. TOKYO 800 ¶D. STATE 32269 ¶E. TOKYO 306 ¶F. STATE 6399 ¶G. 08 STATE 109147 ¶H. 08 TOKYO 2554 ¶I. 08 STATE 97993 ¶J. 07 TOKYO 4687 ¶K. 07 TOKYO 3805 ¶L. 07 STATE 113257 Classified By: ISN/MTR DIRECTOR PAM DURHAM FOR REASONS 1.4 (B),(C),AND (D). ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Embassy Tokyo, please see paragraph 4. ¶2. (S) Background: Since the summer of 2007, we have discussed with Japanese officials the efforts of entities acting on behalf of Iran's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program to acquire SSPS105 and PS050 servo-actuators manufactured by the Japanese firm Tonegawa-Seiko (Refs). These efforts have included approaches to Tonegawa-Seiko by the Taiwan-based intermediary Prime Kit Enterprises, as well as by numerous Malaysia-based intermediaries including Microset Systems, Evertop Services, and an individual named Hamed Ghazvinian. ¶3. (S) Most recently, we shared with Japanese officials information indicating that in February 2009, the Iranian parent firm of Evertop - the Farazeh Equipment Distributor Company (FEDCO) - sought Tonegawa-Seiko servo-actuators via the Italian firm Alpi Aviation (Ref D). In response, the GOJ informed us that Tonegawa-Seiko had in fact exported 200 PS050 actuators to Alpi Aviation in late February (Ref C). Japanese officials suggested that we raise this issue with Italian officials, and also requested details regarding the specific end-use of the actuators Iran has been seeking (including the type of UAVs that could use these actuators). In addition, the Japanese government has asked for U.S. views on whether these servo actuators are indispensable to Iran's UAV program and if Iran could be procuring similar items from other manufacturers. ¶4. (S//REL JAPAN) Action request: Department requests that post advise the GOJ that we recently met with Italian government officials and shared the information related to FEDCO's attempted procurement of the Tonegawa-Seiko servo-actuators through Alpi Aviation (Refs A & B). ¶5. (S) Regarding the end-uses of the items, post should inform GOJ officials that: (SECRET//REL JAPAN) U.S. technical experts assess that the SSPS105 and PS050 servo-actuators Iran is attempting to acquire probably are intended for use with Iranian UAV systems. These servos provide enough torque to command control surface deflections for the ailerons, rudders, elevators or flaps of large remote control aircraft or UAVs with wingspans approaching seven meters. Tonegawa-Seiko design and vendor marketing information describes the servos as rugged, all-weather, electromagnetically shielded, high torque equipment "originally designed for UAVs," which suggests that they would be ideal for UAV systems requiring near military-grade reliability. These systems could be used on any of Iran's UAVs, but probably are exclusively intended for the Ababil III or Mohajer 4 series of UAVs. We do not currently have any information to share regarding other possible suppliers of servo-actuators to Iran's UAV program. (Note: This information may be left as a non-paper. End Note) ¶6. (U) Please contact ISN/MTR's John Paul Herrmann with any questions or follow-up issues related to this case (202-647-1430 - herrmannjp@state.sgov.gov) and slug any reporting on this issue for ISN/MTR and EAP/J. CLINTON