Rössing WikiLeaks continue… US engaged allies’ help

THE US government in 2009 asked the British and Australian governments to separately put pressure on the Namibian Government to stop Iran from getting access to any local uranium.

According to a secret US cable, sent to the US embassies in London and Canberra on February 26 2009, America was concerned that Iran could possibly try and get uranium from Namibia. ‘Embassies London and Canberra are requested to approach UK and Australian counterparts to suggest that they approach the Namibian Government and Rio Tinto, the mining company that owns a controlling share of the Rössing Uranium mine in Namibia, to press strongly for both to reject any Iranian attempt to acquire Namibian uranium,’ the cable stated. WikiLeaks passed the cable on to the Aftenpossten newspaper in Norway.The leaked document is one of several posted recently in which powerful governments expressed their concern about Iran getting its hands on Namibia’s uranium riches. Namibia currently is the fourth biggest uranium supplier in the world. However, once Swakop Uranium’s development of Husab as the world’s second biggest uranium mine is completed and it starts producing in 2014, Namibia is expected to shoot into the top three uranium suppliers in the world.Iran, through the Iran Foreign Investment Company (IFIC), holds 15 per cent of the shares in Rössing Uranium, a stake it acquired in 1975 before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Fears that Iran is looking for uranium to fuel its nuclear programme resulted in the UNSC adopting sanction resolutions against Iran.The new cable was sent after the US got spooked by comments by Prime Minister Nahas Angula in an interview with The Namibian on February 3 2009. In the interview, Angula was quoted that “unless an international agreement, such as with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), calls for countries not to supply to Iran, the Namibian Government treats Iran as any other country”.The US cable states that although Rössing management has said that the IFIC doesn’t have any product take-off rights, and despite the Namibian Government’s assurances, it is “imperative” that the Government has “full appreciation of the UNSC obligations” and does not “engage with Iran on a uranium arrangement”.’We therefore would like to encourage Australia and the UK to weigh in separately with the GRN [Government of Namibia] to ensure that this is not the case,’ the cable states.Another confidential cable sent last January by then US ambassador in Windhoek, Denise Mathieu, and posted by The Telegraph on Tuesday, revealed that Rössing had asked the US to help them find a way to rid of the IFIC. Rössing said it would be “happy to rid itself” of its Iranian partner, but was unable to because the Bank of Namibia (BoN) wouldn’t allow any payments to Iran.In her cable, Mathieu asked the US government for “information on whether there is a way for Rössing (or another entity) to buy Iran’s 15 per cent stake in the company without violating US laws and UNSCRs”.The Namibian last month reported how the US, in August 2009, asked the Canadian government to intervene and stop a Belgian conglomerate from buying the Canadian company Forsys Metals Corporation, owner of the Valencia uranium project near Rössing. The US was concerned about George Forrest International’s (GFI) Iranian links.The confidential cable posted by WikiLeaks shows the US wanting ‘to encourage the GOC [Government of Canada] to vigorously investigate this matter as soon as possible and (if needed and possible under Canadian law) halt the sale until its investigation is complete’.A classified response sent by the US embassy in Ottawa said Canada shared the US’ concerns about the Valencia sale and that, although it was in ‘unchartered waters’, Canada would see if new legislation would allow them to veto the sale.The deal never went through. Officially, Forsys said it terminated its acquisition agreement with GFI, as the latter failed to transfer funds necessary to complete the takeover.* The links to the WikiLeaks cables will be published on The Namibian’s website, www.namibian.com.na
http://www.aftenposten.no/spesial/wikileaksdokumenter/article3988479.ece
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wikileaks-files/nuclear-wikileaks/8297092/Namibias-Rossing-Uranium-A-USG-Evaluation.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wikileaks-files/iran-wikileaks/8299138/CANADA-SEEKING-OFFICIAL-CONFIRMATION-FORSYS-URANIUM-DEAL-HAS-COLLAPSED.html