Ems igniters for Iran via Austria

Goods category: War materiel

Ruhollah Khomeini, 1964; historical postcard.

Between 1983 and spring 1987, Ems-Patvag supplied Funkengeber 82 spark initiators to Armaturen GesmbH (Arges) in Rüstorf, Austria. Shipments went through Buchs and each contained around 20 000 units. Former employees reported that several million initiators had been manufactured and were intended for onward supply for Iranian anti-tank weapons; representatives of Iran’s Defense Industries Organisation reportedly negotiated this with management in 1983. The exports to Austria were authorised. No Austrian non-re-export declaration was required for the components, which were treated as anonymous mass-produced items. In 1996, Ems-Patvag said it held the necessary licences for all military export transactions. Onward delivery to Iran and the responsible parties’ knowledge are based on published employee accounts; no case-specific judicial finding is documented.

Effect of the proposed War Materiel Act revision

Under the new Article 22b, the Federal Council could depart from all the licensing criteria in Article 22a under vaguely defined ‘exceptional circumstances’. The public would not have to be informed. For Austria, as a current Annex 2 state, Article 22a paragraph 2bis would remove the exclusion criterion based on participation in an armed conflict and make approval the rule. The Federal Council could refuse a licence only in exceptional cases. The Federal Council could add Iran to Annex 2 by amending the War Materiel Ordinance. This would remove the exclusion criterion based on participation in an armed conflict and make approval the rule. The Federal Council could refuse a licence only in exceptional cases. Article 18 paragraph 1 would abolish non-re-export declarations in the vast majority of cases. Weapons for Iran could thus easily be supplied through a subsidiary or intermediary in a third country.

Countries

Conflicts

Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988)

Companies

Time period

Production and deliveries from 1983 to spring 1987; investigation in 1996

Sources

Facts, 25.01.1996, S. 16 ff.: Blochers Geschäfte mit den Kriegsherren der Welt (Res Gehriger), einschliesslich der Stellungnahme des Ems-Konzerns
Schweizer Bundesrat, 1996: Antwort zur Interpellation 96.3027 «Waffengeschäfte der Ems-Patvag», insbesondere Einleitung und Ziffer 3
fridamagazin.ch, 07.03.2023: Napalm und Nazistein (Jost Auf der Maur)
Facts, 25.01.1996, S. 16–24: Ems-Patvag — Blochers Geschäfte mit den Kriegsherren der Welt (Res Gehriger)