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O 081346Z OCT 09
FM AMCONSUL MUNICH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4935
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV IMMEDIATE 0443
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MUNICH 000257 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR P - STEPHEN MULL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2019 
TAGS: KNNP MNUC PARM IR GM
SUBJECT: BAVARIA/IRAN:  ABORTED BUSINESS TRIP EMBARRASSES 
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY 
 
REF: SECSTATE 103218 
 
Classified By: Consul General Conrad Tribble for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d 
) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: A German business delegation cancelled an 
October 1 trip to Iran after interventions from the U.S. 
Consulate in Munich and the German government.  The Chamber 
of Commerce and Industry (IHK) in Bavaria planned to send the 
delegation to Teheran on October 1 but cancelled on September 
28 citing "Iranian mis-steps," including the recent Iranian 
rocket tests, the revelation of the uranium enrichment 
facility near Qom, and intentions by the Iranian government 
to "spin" the visit in the media.  According to senior IHK 
representatives, political pressure from the USG, the 
Chancellor, and the German Foreign Ministry alone would 
"absolutely not" have dissuaded them from making the trip, 
which the IHK staunchly defended as being "perfectly legal." 
The Embassy was positively surprised by the level and 
seriousness of the German government's interventions from the 
MFA and the Chancellor's office that featured prominently in 
a detailed IHK chronology of conversations the IHK  had in 
the days leading up to the decision not to go.  Although they 
were loath to admit it, these must have affected the IHK 
decision to abort the trip.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Embassy Berlin Poloff was tipped off by an Israeli 
Embassy contact about an imminent trip to Iran by a Bavarian 
business delegation led by the Munich Chamber of Commerce and 
Industry (IHK).  Immediately thereafter, on September 25, 
Consulate General Munich FCS chief called Alexander Hoeckle 
(Deputy Director of the Foreign Trade Department for the IHK) 
and told him that "timing of such a business trip could not 
be worse and that politically it sent all the wrong signals 
to the Government of Iran."  By September 28, the IHK had 
cancelled the trip.  On October 7, Consulate General Pol-Econ 
Chief and the Economic Specialist met Dr. Manfred 
Goessl(Director, International Economic Affairs and Deputy 
Chief Executive Officer of the IHK) and Hoeckle to reiterate 
USG concerns and to ask them "what were they thinking when 
they planned such a trip." 
 
¶3.  (C) Goessl (PLEASE PROTECT) confidentially shared a 
detailed chronology he had compiled, listing the various 
interventions from the Consulate, the German Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs (MFA), the German Ministry of Economics, 
Members of the Parliament, and the Chancellor's office at the 
highest levels, as well as from the Israeli Embassy and the 
press (faxed to Embassy Berlin on October 7 - please 
protect).  Although he had documented every call over a 
period of days, he denied that they had had any influence on 
the group,s decision.  These calls included strong 
objections on September 22 from the MFA U/S for 
Commerce-equivalent von Fritsch, from the Chancellor's office 
on September 28, and from Chancellor Merkel's National 
Security Advisor Heusgen, as well as from the American 
Consulate General Munich on September 25.  Goessl added that 
the MFA had rescinded an invitation to the delegation to 
attend the German Ambassador's National Day reception in 
Tehran.  All this pressure notwithstanding, Goessl insisted 
that "Iranian mis-steps" were the proximate cause for their 
backing out.  The news of a second missile test on September 
28 and the revelation of the uranium lab near Qom surprised 
the IHK, as did information that Iran was going to exploit 
the trip in the press.  Concerns about a press angle were 
confirmed after a BILD reporter called IHK Munich and said 
the Iranian Embassy had announced the impending travel of the 
Munich group. 
 
¶4. (C) Goessl stressed that the IHK was a "non-governmental, 
apolitical organization that served the interests of member 
companies," some of whom had requested the IHK to lead a 
delegation to Iran "to learn first hand about the situation 
in the country."  Goessl refused to share the names or 
affiliations of participating business people, but he 
suggested they included Bavarian producers of "hotel bed 
pillows, medical equipment, and water management."  According 
to the agenda shared with us by the IHK (faxed to Embassy 
Berlin, please protect), the group was scheduled to visit the 
German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, German business 
representatives, the German Ambassador, the Iranian Chamber 
of Commerce and Mines, the Siemens power plant at Rudeshur, 
the Investment Office at the Iranian Ministry for Economics 
and Finance, the factory of a "Mamut Karaj," the mayor of 
Teheran, German press representatives in Iran, and 
representatives of the German-speaking Evangelische 
(Protestant) Church. 
 
MUNICH 00000257  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5.  (C) Goessl insisted that the "trip was perfectly legal" 
but he agreed with Poloff that, by the end, "it did not pass 
the smell test."  However, he accused the federal German 
government of having a double standard.  "On one hand, 
individual Germans may travel to Iran and do business, but on 
the other hand, this must be kept quiet and not disclosed to 
the public." 
 
¶6.  (C) Goessl stressed repeatedly that business ties were a 
good way to promote peace, that is, "change through trade" 
("Wandel durch Handel").  Iranian businessmen "object to the 
regime because they have ruined the economy," Goessl said, 
suggesting these were good contacts now and in the future. 
Moreover, he reported that German businessmen with 
long-standing ties to small and medium sized Iranian business 
counterparts say, "It is important for us to stay in touch 
with these people.  Should the situation improve within the 
next few years, companies will want new business with Iran. 
In that case, Iranians will remember having been left high 
and dry in difficult times."  Goessl explained that the 
Munich IHK's strong ties with Iran go back years.  For 
example, the IHK regularly organizes business administration 
seminars by professors from the University of Wurzburg and 
from the training school at Kempten for Iranian managers. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7.  (C) The IHK was embarrassed and angry about the exposure 
and then cancellation of this trip, but they could have 
anticipated the crisis earlier if they had a sense of 
Realpolitik in things Iranian.  The timing turned out to be 
terrible -- the delegation would have landed in Teheran on 
October 1 as their own government was sitting down at the 
table with Iran for P5 1 talks.  It should have been clear 
that the GoI would try to exploit a visit at this point, and 
the size or importance of the businesses involved would not 
have mattered.  It was also foreseeable that German media 
would accuse the Bavarians of "doing business with the 
Mullahs."  The IHK has learned that its work in Iran has a 
strong political component whether they like it or not. 
 
¶8.  (C) The Embassy was positively surprised by the level and 
seriousness of the German government's interventions both 
from the MFA and the Chancellor's office.  According to IHK's 
own internal chronology, NSA-equivalent Heusgen told the IHK 
that "German businesses should not be going to Iran now, as 
it counteracts the ongoing negotiations," and even the MFA,s 
 von Fritsch said the trip was "politically undesirable"; he 
was the one who called the delegation to "un-invite" them 
from German national day celebrations at the Embassy in 
Tehran.  End Comment. 
TRIBBLE