U.S. asked Israel to warn against business with Iranian shipping company

WikiLeaks reveals secret State Department cable detailing U.S. sanctions for doing business with Iran; senior Foreign Ministry source says not enough actions taken in Israel, with failure to enact legislation or cabinet decision.

The U.S. government asked Israel in 2008 to warn private companies against doing business with Iran's national shipping company IRISL.

A secret State Department cable dated September 2008, and revealed over the weekend by WikiLeaks, shows that the U.S. government had informed Israel in detail of steps taken against various countries to enforce sanctions against shipping companies doing business with Iran.

	WikiLeaks website.
	Photo by: AP

American sanctions were imposed against Ofer Brothers following the sale to Iran of a tanker owned by a subsidiary of Ofer Brothers.

The cable, which was sent to the U.S. Embassy in Athens ahead of talks on the matter with the Greek government, said that the information should also be conveyed to the Israeli government "to keep them aware of our strategy to target IRISL." The cable asked that the Greek authorities be reminded "of the risk that companies doing business with IRISL could, even inadvertently or unwittingly, facilitate the proliferation of items for use in a WMD, military, or missile program."

The cable noted specifically that IRISL was attempting to mask its activities to avoid sanctions.

A senior source in the Foreign Ministry conceded that not enough steps were taken in recent years by the Foreign Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor to explain the sanctions against Iran to the private sector. The official said this was because no legislation or cabinet decision had been enacted on the matter.

The Foreign Ministry learned in February 2011 that the U.S. government was about to impose sanctions on Ofer Brothers, but did not approach the administration with regard to the company.

After the American decision to impose the sanctions came to light, Ofer Brothers claimed the company had received official Israeli authorization to dock in Iran, a claim that the Prime Minister's Office said was "incorrect."