VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLO #0104 0101534
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 101534Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1204
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN IMMEDIATE 2372
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 2765
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME IMMEDIATE 3277
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC IMMEDIATE

S E C R E T LONDON 000104 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR T, ISN/CPI, NEA/IR, AND EUR/UBI 
TREASURY FOR CURTIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2017 
TAGS: PREL KNNP KN PARM EFIN FR GE IT UK
SUBJECT: ADDITIONAL IRAN DESIGNATIONS UNDER EO 13382: 
INITIAL UK REACTIONS 
 
REF: STATE 2284 
 
Classified By: Economic Minister Mark Tokola for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d 
) 
 
¶1. (S/NF) Summary: The UK views the U.S. designation of Bank 
Sepah under Executive Order 13382 as a "significant 
ratcheting up of pressure on Iran" and supports our view that 
the designation is consistent with the language of UNSCR 
¶1737.  The UK would appreciate information on how the 
designation is being viewed in Russia, France, and Italy, as 
their reactions will impact both a February 12 European 
Council meeting where a possible designation of Iran's 
Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO) may be discussed and 
any possible UNSC discussion of whether AIO should be 
designated by the UN.  The Financial Services Authority 
(FSA), the UK's bank regulator, will monitor Bank Sepah 
London subsidiary carefully to see if the designation had any 
operational impact on it.  If the designation were to 
undermine the bank's solvency, the FSA could revoke its 
license.  UK officials note that they lack domestic 
legislation that would allow them to take similar action 
against Bank Sepah.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (S/NF) Per ref A, Embassy notified contacts at Foreign and 
Commonwealth Office (both the Iran Coordination Group and 
Counterproliferation Directorate) and Her Majesty's Treasury 
(HMT) of our impending designation of Bank Sepah, including 
its UK subsidiary.  The FCO Iran Team Leader Ben Fender said 
that the U.S. action on Sepah represented a "significant 
ratcheting up of pressure on Iran."  Fender added that HMG 
agrees with our view that the designation is in line with 
UNSCR 1737. 
 
¶3. (S/NF) Fender cautioned, however, that our request that 
the UK and other partners look at measures to domestically 
designate AIO as an integral part of implementing UNSCR 1737 
may be viewed with "consternation" by Russia.  According to 
Fender, pressing partners to act against AIO may appear to be 
inconsistent with the deal struck in New York whereby Russia 
agreed to support the resolution in exchange for dropping AIO 
from UNSCR 1737's list of sanctions entities.  His caution 
notwithstanding, Fender said that the EU is considering 
whether to include AIO in its listing, which is scheduled to 
be discussed at a February 12 EU Council meeting.  Fender 
said that an EU listing of AIO would strengthen the case for 
its designation by the UN.  Fender said that the UK wants to 
help manage Italian and French perceptions of U.S. financial 
measures and asked us to share any reactions we got on the 
Sepah listing from France or Italy.  (Embassy note: We 
believe Russian reactions would also be of interest to our 
British contacts.) 
 
¶4. (S/NF) Patrick Guthrie, the Head of the Financial 
Sanctions Unit at HM Treasury, said that the UK did not have 
domestic legislation which would allow it to designate Bank 
Sepah domestically.  He said, however, that the Financial 
Services Authority had been notified of the impending U.S. 
action.  He added that the FSA will closely monitor Bank 
Sepah's London subsidiary for any impact our designation has 
on its operations.  If, for example, the U.S. designation 
were to negatively impact Sepah's solvency, the FSA could 
seek to revoke its operating license in the UK. 
 
Visit London's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm 
Johnson