IRANIANS INSPECT BELL HELICOPTERS IN SWEDEN

SECRET S E C R E T STOCKHOLM 000423 E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2018 TAGS: ETRD, ETTC, KOMC, MCAP, PARM, IR, SW SUBJECT: IRANIANS INSPECT BELL HELICOPTERS IN SWEDEN REF: STOCKHOLM (06) 243 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Silverman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 5. 2. (S) In early May, post received the first of three unsolicited e-mails from Arnold Sundquist, a naturalized U.S. citizen resident in Sweden and employee of Stockholm-based European Helicopter Service Sweden. The e-mails state that he was concerned about four Bell 212 helicopters, originally from Israel, but currently in Sweden for maintenance and repairs. Sundquist explained that the helicopters had been in Sweden for a "few months," and that he had been asked by GAM-Aviation, a Spanish subsidiary of European Helicopter Service, to begin making plans to ship the helicopters first to Norway, then back to Sweden for onward transportation to Spain. When Sundquist pointed out that the helicopters required an export permit from the U.S. Department of State before they could be shipped to Spain, a GAM-Aviation employee said: "Don't worry about that. It's all part of the EU and no one will find out anyway." 3. (S) Sundquist also said by e-mail that prior to this request, four Iranian nationals had spent the "better part of two days" inspecting the helicopters in the hanger where they are stored. This originally aroused Sundquist's suspicion, but he did not act until he received requests shortly thereafter to have the helicopters moved. In subsequent e-mails from GAM-Aviation (included in the chain of three e-mails sent by Sundquist to post), an employee in the Spanish company inquired about the process for obtaining an export permit to ship the helicopters to Spain, and about Sundquist's "real possibility" of purchasing "parts and components" for Bell 412 and 206 helicopters directly from Bell. Sundquist was offered by the Spanish company up to four percent commission on anything he could purchase and was instructed to consider the e-mail and offer "strictly confidential." 4. (S) Comment: The previous Deputy Economic Counselor in Stockholm called Sundquist "knowledgeable and adventurous." Sundquist, who claims to have been a former Air America pilot in Laos, has provided accurate information regarding Iranian efforts to purchase Bell Helicopters in the past (Reftel). End Comment. 5. (S) Post requests guidance on how to proceed this issue. WOOD NNNN End Cable Text