VZCZCXRO7989
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK
DE RUEHC #3624/01 0711943
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 121925Z MAR 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON IMMEDIATE 2723
INFO IRAN COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 023624 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2039 
TAGS: KNNP MNUC IR GM UK EFIN ECON XG XT
SUBJECT: RESPONSE TO UK IRAN SANCTIONS ROUNDUP 
 
REF: A. A) LONDON 118 
     ¶B. B) LONDON 254 
 
Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY ISN Principal Deputy Assistant 
Secretary C.S. Eliot Kang, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
¶1.  (U) This is an action request.  Please see paragraph 
three. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶2.  (S/REL UK) The U.S. would like to provide the following 
information in response to questions from HMG regarding 
recent actions against Iranian proliferation-related 
entities. 
 
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OBJECTIVES/ACTION REQUEST 
------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Washington provides the following information in 
response to REF A and B from Post regarding HM Government 
Iran-related sanctions questions.  Post is requested to 
convey the information in paragraphs 4-8 to relevant UK 
Government agencies as appropriate. 
 
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BACKGROUND AND NONPAPER 
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¶4.  BEGIN S/REL UK NON-PAPER 
 
-- (C) Regarding HM Treasury's question on whether the USG 
has information about ASSA Co. Ltd's involvement with Iranian 
entities through UK subsidiaries: 
 
-- (U) To the best of our knowledge, ASSA Co. Ltd., the 
parent of ASSA Corp., New York, does not have subsidiaries 
based in the UK.  ASSA Co. Ltd. was designated for being 
controlled by Bank Melli.  ASSA Co. Ltd., which is located in 
Jersey, is essentially a shell company created to add another 
layer between Bank Melli and ASSA Corp. in New York. 
 
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Closing Subsidiaries of Designated Entities 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (S//REL UK) Regarding the status of Bank Sepah's London 
branch, Washington would like to share the following 
information with HMG about the operations of Bank Sepah 
London. 
 
-- (S//REL UK)  The UK's branch of Bank Sepah, Bank Sepah 
International, continued facilitating a large number of 
transactions in 2008, despite its designation by both the UN 
Security Council and the EU.  During May-August 2008, banks 
in the United Kingdom, mainly Iranian bank branches, 
facilitated over $25 billion worth of transactions with 
Iranian banks. 
 
--(S//REL UK)  Bank Sepah International in London facilitated 
over $145 million worth of transactions with Bank Sepah 
Tehran, but under $20,000 worth of transactions with other 
banks during the same time period. 
 
¶6. (S//REL UK) In response to the question regarding whether 
the U.S. has closed down "clean" subsidiaries of a sanctioned 
parent company (Ref A), Treasury is working to provide 
additional material on sanctioned UK subsidiaries, which will 
be provided septel.  We have also provided the following 
information on previous cases as an interim response. 
 
-- (U) The U.S. has shut down the U.S. operations of 
sanctioned banks in at least two instances.  We also are 
aware of one example where the UK closed the London office of 
a sanctioned bank.  In the case of the U.S. banks, the Office 
of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) always worked very closely 
with the banks' primary and secondary regulators when taking 
any action. 
 
-- (U) First, when the UN Security Council imposed sanctions 
on the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 
(Serbia & Montenegro) in the late 1990s, the U.S. initiated a 
block against the Yugoslav banks, Jugobanka and Beogradska 
Banka.  OFAC blocked the banks immediately following the UN 
action and for a year allowed the banks to engage in very 
 
STATE 00023624  002 OF 003 
 
 
limited transactions, such as paying staff and addressing 
administrative issues.  OFAC never granted a license for 
either bank to conduct new banking business or to pay out on 
any outstanding debts. U.S. bank examiners were assigned to 
the banks, conducting on-site monitoring of all bank 
activities.  The OFAC licenses to allow the limited 
transactions were ultimately revoked because there were 
concerns about even those limited activities and the blocked 
funds of the bank were being depleted.  The physical property 
of the banks was either liquidated or moved into storage. 
The New York State Banking Department (the banks' primary 
U.S. regulator) took possession 
 of the banks' records and suspended their New York State 
banking licenses.  When the sanctions were lifted, OFAC 
unblocked the banks' assets, allowing the New York State 
Banking Department to pursue liquidation proceedings.  This 
example is further complicated because of the issues that 
ensued with various Yugoslavia successor states claiming 
ownership of the banks' assets. 
 
-- (U) The second example involves the Iranian banks, Bank 
Melli, Bank Saderat, and Bank Sepah.  These three banks had 
operating branches in the U.S. (New York, Chicago and Los 
Angeles) when U.S. sanctions were escalated in 1995.  While 
the sanctions did not involve a blocking program, the banks 
were not allowed to conduct any transactions without a 
license from OFAC.  OFAC issued licenses to the banks that 
allowed them to wind down outstanding trade finance 
transactions for approximately 9 months.  No new business was 
allowed during that time.  In 1996, OFAC revoked the banks' 
licenses that had allowed the limited transactions and issued 
a new license allowing the banks to downgrade to limited 
representative offices.  At the same time, the New York State 
Banking Department revoked the Agency licenses for the banks 
and re-issued licenses allowing the operation of limited 
representative offices.  In accordance with NY State banking 
law, the banks were required to deposit an amount of money, 
equal to the largest 
 amount of money owed to creditors, into an escrow account. 
Those debts were then resolved through the court system and 
paid out from the escrow account.  The representative offices 
eventually closed and no Iranian bank currently has any 
presence in the United States. 
 
--(S//REL UK) OFAC believes that the UK could choose to take 
similar action regarding the designated Iranian bank branches 
in London.  OFAC officials have spoken to British 
counterparts about this for several months.  If the UK has 
the legal authority to do so, the UK could create an escrow 
account at the Bank of England and allow debts to be paid out 
from those funds with a license, and either close the banks 
or downgrade them to representative offices.  If sanctions 
were ever lifted and funds remained, the escrow account could 
be unfrozen. 
 
-- (U) The U.S. is also aware of one example where the UK 
shut down a bank in London.  In 1990, when the UN Security 
Council imposed multilateral sanctions against Iraq, the UK 
blocked the London branch of Rafidain Bank, a bank 
owned/controlled by the Government of Iraq.  Ultimately, the 
UK banking authorities oversaw the liquidation of the bank 
and it was closed. 
 
-- (S//REL UK) There are similarities between Rafidain Bank 
and the current situation with the Iranian banks in that both 
were targets of a blocking program.  The main difference 
between these situations appears to be that Rafidain Bank had 
liquidity problems which likely gave the UK banking 
regulators the authority to conduct an involuntary 
liquidation of the bank, regardless of the blocking action. 
 
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Additional Information 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶7. (S//REL UK) The UK government has requested additional 
unclassified information on Bank Mellat, Bank Saderat, Bank 
Tejarat, and Persia International Bank in Ref A and Bank 
Melli and IRISL in Ref B.  Regarding those entities that have 
already been designated by the U.S. (Bank Mellat, Bank 
Saderat, Bank Melli, and IRISL), the U.S. Government pursued 
the most extensive declassification possible prior to the 
designation of these entities in order to support the public 
statements of the case.  While it is unlikely that the U.S. 
will be able to provide additional unclassified information 
on these entities that would be stronger than that already 
presented in the public records, Treasury is seeking 
declassification of some additional information on Bank 
Melli.  Regarding Bank Tejarat and Persia International Bank, 
Treasury is working to provide any additional information and 
will send septel. 
 
 
STATE 00023624  003 OF 003 
 
 
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World Bank 
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¶8. (S//REL UK) With regard to a possible Iranian action 
request for World Bank funds (Ref A), the U.S. position on 
this issue to date is as follows: 
 
-- (U) Given Iran's use of its state-owned banks and the 
international financial system to facilitate its nuclear and 
missile programs and to support terrorism, we do not support 
sending U.S. taxpayer money to Iran.  The U.S. has 
consistently voted "no" on World Bank activities in Iran 
since the 1980s, and we will continue to oppose any 
assistance for Iran.  The U.S. voted against specific 
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) guarantees in 
2005 and expressed strong opposition to their approval 
because of human rights concerns in Iran.  The U.S. has urged 
the World Bank to do act in accordance with the requirements 
of existing UNSC resolutions on Iran, and to avoid any 
activity that could facilitate Iran's nuclear or missile 
programs. 
 
END S/REL UK NON-PAPER 
 
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REPORTING DEADLINE 
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¶9.  (U) Post should report results within seven business days 
of receipt of this cable.  Please slug replies for ISN, T, 
IO, EUR, TREASURY, and NEA.  Please include SIPDIS in all 
replies. 
 
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POINT OF CONTACT 
---------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) Washington points of contact for follow-up 
information are Kevin McGeehan, ISN/CPI, (202) 647-5408, 
McGeehanKJ@state.sgov.gov, and DeAnna Fernandez, 
Treasury/TFFC, (202) 622-7937, 
fernandezd@tsdn.treasury.sgov.gov. 
 
¶11. (U) Department thanks Post for its assistance. 
CLINTON