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UNCLAS STATE 027642 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KNNP MNUC IR BA
 
SUBJECT: DESIGNATION OF FUTURE BANK, BAHRAIN UNDER 
EXECUTIVE ORDER 13382 
 
 ¶1.  (U)  This is an action request.  Please see paragraph 2. 
 
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OBJECTIVES 
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¶2.  (U)  Washington requests that addressees notify host 
Government/EU officials that the United States designated 
Future Bank, Bahrain under E.O. 13382 ("Blocking the Property 
of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators and their 
Supporters") on Wednesday, March 12, 2008.  Addressees are 
requested to provide the non-paper in paragraph 4 to host 
government/EU officials. 
 
-- Inform Posts of U.S. designation of Future Bank, Bahrain 
for being controlled by the Iranian Bank Melli, which was 
designated by the U.S. on October 25, 2007. 
 
-- Note this designation is consistent with United Nations 
Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1803 of March 3, 2008, 
which calls upon Member States to "exercise vigilance" with 
regard to activities of financial institutions in their 
territories with all banks domiciled in Iran, in particular 
Iran's Bank Melli and Bank Saderat. 
 
-- Note this designation is aimed at prohibiting 
proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their 
supporters from engaging in transactions and trade between 
those designated entities and banks under U.S. jurisdiction. 
 
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BACKGROUND/NONPAPER 
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¶3.  (U) Begin text of background/non-paper for EU, UK, 
FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, BAHRAIN, BELGIUM, 
BURKINA FASO, COSTA RICA, CROATIA, GERMANY, GHANA, INDONESIA, 
ISRAEL, JAPAN, JORDAN, KUWAIT, LIBYA, OMAN, PANAMA, 
QATAR, REPUBLIC OF CONGO, SAUDI ARABIA, SLOVAKIA, SPAIN, 
SOUTH AFRICA, UAE, VIETNAM, YEMEN, JAPAN, CHINA, NEW ZEALAND 
and RUSSIA: 
 
The U.S. would like to inform your government that on March 
12, 2008, the U.S. Treasury Department designated one 
additional entity pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382 
("Blocking the Property of Weapons of Mass Destruction 
Proliferators and their Supporters"), an authority aimed at 
freezing the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass 
destruction and their supporters and at prohibiting 
transactions and trade between those designated entities and 
banks under U.S. jurisdiction.  The text of E.O. 13382 can be 
found at: http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement 
/ofac/programs/wmd/wmd.pdf. 
 
The following name will be added to Treasury's Office of 
Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list of Specially Designated 
Nationals and Blocked Persons ("SDN list") and published in 
the Federal Register pursuant to Executive Order 13382. 
 
¶1.  FUTURE BANK B.S.C. 
Addresses:  P.O. Box 785, City Centre Building, Government 
Avenue 
Manama, Bahrain 
Block 304, City Centre Building, Building 199, Government 
Avenue, Road 383 Manama, Bahrain 
 
This designation is based on the determination that Future 
Bank is controlled by Iran's Bank Melli, which was designated 
under the same Executive Order on October 25, 2007 for 
facilitating Iran's proliferation activities. 
 
Executive Order 13382 provides authority to freeze the assets 
of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and 
their supporters. 
 
Future Bank was established in 2004 as a joint venture 
between two Iranian banks, Bank Melli and Bank Saderat, and a 
private bank based in Bahrain.  Bank Melli and Bank Saderat 
each hold 33.3 percent of Future Bank's outstanding shares. 
At the time of the designation, Bank Melli and Future Bank 
publicly identified the same individual as chairman of both 
institutions.  Other information available to the U.S. 
Government also demonstrates that Future Bank is controlled 
by Bank Melli.  In addition, Bank Saderat was also designated 
by the USG for support of terrorism in October 2007. 
According to information available to the USG, Bank Saderat 
supports terrorist organizations, including Hizbollah, Hamas, 
PFLP-GC, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 
 
The Government of Bahrain has taken responsible steps to 
prevent Future Bank from abusing the country's financial 
system. 
 
This designation is consistent with United Nations Security 
Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1803 of March 3, 2008, which calls 
upon Member States to "exercise vigilance" with regard to 
activities of financial institutions in their territories 
with all banks domiciled in Iran, in particular Iran's Bank 
Melli and Bank Saderat, and their branches and subsidiaries 
abroad.  UNSCR 1803 specifically calls on States to take such 
action in order to avoid these activities contributing to 
either proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or the 
development of nuclear weapons systems, as referred to in 
UNSCR 1737. 
 
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 
Bank Melli pursuant to E.O. 13382 for providing, or 
attempting to provide, financial support for entities 
involved in Iran's nuclear and missile programs.  These 
include: the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, the Defense 
Industries Organization (DIO), Bank Sepah, and the Islamic 
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).  These entities have also 
been designated under E.O. 13382 and have been listed in 
UNSCRs 1737 and 1747. OFAC also designated four financial 
institutions that are owned or controlled by Bank Melli, 
including Melli Bank plc, Arian Bank, Bank Melli Iran ZAO, 
and Bank Kargoshaee. 
 
As you know, UNSCRs 1737, 1747 and 1803 establish a legal 
obligation for countries to take certain actions against the 
financial underpinnings of Iranian proliferation and WMD 
programs by requiring states to freeze the assets of entities 
and individuals named in the Annexes of these resolutions, as 
well as assets of entities owned or controlled by them or 
individuals or entities acting on their behalf. 
 
The United States urges you to also take action to meet these 
requirements.  In this regard, we hope you will consider 
taking action to freeze the assets of Future Bank and other 
Iran-related entities the U.S. has designated under E.O. 
¶13382. (A full list of the entities designated under E.O. 
13382 can be found at 
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ 
ofac/programs/wmd/wmd.pdf.) 
 
We urge your government to investigate financial 
relationships and transactions in which designated Iranian 
proliferation entities have an interest.  Where it is 
suspected that these relationships and transactions may be 
facilitating Iran's proliferation activities, we urge you to 
take those steps necessary for your nationals to cease 
dealings with the entity in question. 
 
We look forward to working with you on this and other related 
matters and are prepared to provide additional assistance as 
appropriate. 
 
End background/non-paper. 
 
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REPORTING DEADLINE 
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¶4.  (U) Please report delivery of the U.S. non-paper and any 
immediate response by March 31, 2008.  Please slug replies 
for ISN, T, TREASURY, EUR, EAP and NEA.  Please use SIPDIS 
caption on all responses. 
 
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POINT OF CONTACT 
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¶5.  (U)  Washington point of contact for follow-up 
information is Kevin McGeehan, ISN/CPI, (202) 647-5408, 
McGeehanKJ@state.sgov.gov. 
 
¶6. (U) Department thanks Post for its assistance. 
RICE 
 
 
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End Cable Text