US embassy cable - 05VIENNA37

S E C R E T VIENNA 000037 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NP/ECNP - PARSON AND EUR/AGS - VIKMANIS-KELLER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2015 
TAGS: ETTC, PARM, PREL, PINR, IR, AU 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN EXPORT OF SNIPER RIFLES TO IRAN -- 
AMBASSADOR HIGHLIGHTS RETRANSFER CONCERNS 
 
REF: A. (A) ZARZECKI-PHILLIPS E-MAIL 1/5/05 
     B. (B) 04 STATE 272249 
     C. (C) 04 VIENNA 4393 
     D. (D) 04 STATE 263141 
     E. (E) 04 VIENNA 4354 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR W.L. LYONS BROWN.  REASONS:  1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
1.  (S) Summary:  The Ambassador raised the transfer of 
Steyr-Mannlicher sniper rifles to Iran with Foreign Minstry 
Secretary General (Deputy Secretary equivalent) Johannes 
 
SIPDIS 
Kyrle on January 7.  Kyrle stressed that the Foreign Ministry 
had verified the end-user as an Iranian government entity, 
and had required a written end-use certificate.  The 
Ambassador outlined information about the other Iranian 
military equipment which has ended up in Iraq.  The 
Ambassador asked for a halt to further shipments; for Austria 
to enforce the end-use certification; and for Austria to 
provide us with the serial numbers of the weapons shipped. 
Kyrle undertook to consult with the Foreign Minister and with 
Interior Ministry officials.  End summary. 
 
2.  (S) The Ambassador stressed our concerns that these 
weapons would end up in the hands of insuragents in Iraq, 
putting our forces, and those of coalition countries, at 
great risk.  The Ambassador said we found the purpose the 
Iranians had given for the purchase -- counter narcotics and 
border control -- to be questionable, and the number of 
weapons -- 2,400 -- to seem excessive for any law enforcement 
purposes. 
 
3.  (S) Kyrle said the Foreign Ministry had been diligent in 
checking the Iranian request.  The Austrian Embassy in 
Tehran, he said, had verified that the end-user was an 
Iranian government entity, he said.  Iran was extremely 
concerned about drug flows across its border with 
Afghanistan, and both the EU and the U.S. were engaged in 
counter-narcotics programs on the Afghan side of the border. 
Kyrle stressed that Austria had demanded precise, written 
end-use certifications from the Iranians, and the Iranians 
had provided the necessary documents. 
 
4.  (S) Drawing on the information provided ref (a), the 
Ambassador outlined evidence that insurgents in Iraq had 
recently obtained Iranian-origin military equipment.  Kyrle 
acknowledged that this constituted "proof that weapons in 
Iraq had come from Iran," whether from government sources, 
the black market, or any other mechanism. 
 
5.  (S) The Ambassador asked Kyrle for three things:  first, 
to stop any further shipments of these weapons to Iran; 
second, to follow up Iran's end-use certification (since, as 
the Ambassador said, the fact that the Iranians had signed a 
piece of paper did not guarantee anything); and third, to 
provide us with the serial numbers of the shipped weapons, so 
we can know immediately where they came from if we found any 
in Iraq. 
 
6.  (S) Kyrle asked if the United States were making similar 
presentations elsewhere in Europe.  After all, he said, other 
arms manufacturers had commercial relations with Iran.  The 
Ambassador said that we were pursuing the same general 
policy, but the reason we were engaged in this matter in 
Austria was because there was an ongoing sale involving 
military weapons from Austria.  Kyrle noted that many arms 
manufacturers had licensing agreements with countries 
elswhere in the world, making it difficult to enforce strict 
controls.  (Note:  we understand that Steyr-Mannlicher has 
such a licensing agreement with Malaysia.  End note.)  The 
Ambassador said these were also of concern, and we would 
respond similarly to transfers such as the current Austrian 
one. 
 
7.  (SBU) Kyrle undertook to convey the Ambassador's points 
to Foreign Minister Plassnik (who was departing shortly for 
an EU meeting on the Asian tsunami), as well as to the 
relevant officials in the Interior Ministry.  The Ambassador 
told Kyrle that he would raise this issue in his introductory 
meeting with new Interior Minister Liese Prokop. 
Brown