Iran

Baroness Chapman of Darlington Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, while, understandably, all our attention in this country at the moment has been focused on the survival of our own Government, we should also be keeping a close eye on the future of the regime in Tehran. It has destroyed and brutalised one of the world’s great civilisations, threatened the world with nuclear devastation and exported terror around the globe, including to this country. The Iranian people, in my view, have no future if the mullahs remain in power. Can I ask the noble Baroness two questions? First, the EU has now proscribed the IRGC, while this Government have given only a vague promise to do so, so please can we have a firm timetable for that necessary action? Secondly, can the Minister confirm that we will work in lockstep with the United States if they decide to take military action against that despotic regime?

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)]

On the IRGC, we welcome the moves that the EU has taken recently. As noble Lords will know because we have discussed it before, there has been a piece of work done by Jonathan Hall. We accept the recommendations, but there are legislative changes that we need to make because, in our law, there is a difference between the way we can deal with the proscription of state actors and with terrorists. I think that the noble Lord understands this. We are proceeding, I must say with absolute respect to him, with rather more alacrity than he did when he was in power.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, we must remark with great humility on the sacrifice that so many of those within Iran have made for the simple cause of seeking to have a Government that they wish to have. The Minister may recall that, on 15 January, I asked for clarification on the BBC World Service’s Persian radio service. I was delighted to receive from the BBC yesterday the news that an emergency lifeline BBC Persian radio service will be carried on, which is very good news indeed. Will the Minister restate the support for journalists in particular who are being persecuted by the regime? Secondly, I welcome the new sanctions that were announced this week, but there is currently a loophole, as the sanctions are on individuals. If the IRGC is proscribed then those who support the organisation, providing financial backing and external support, will be removed; without the proscription, there is that loophole. Will the Minister state that this is being actively looked at with urgency?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

It is. I thank the noble Lord for his comments about our support for the protesters. It is essential, when we have these discussions, that we are completely grounded in the experience of those brave young people taking to the streets in Tehran and elsewhere across the country. The courage with which they are making their case is astounding. On the issue of the World Service, again, the noble Lord is right that this is an incredibly important service, and we often overlook and understate its impact, so I am pleased that it can continue. On proscription, yes, we are proceeding in the way that I outlined in response to the earlier question. We have sanctioned members of the IRGC but, as the noble Lord says, if there are additional powers through the means of proscription, we need to make changes in order to do that, but we are acting fully along with the recommendations of the Hall piece of work.

[The Archbishop of York]

My Lords, I have a very simple humanitarian question relating to what the Minister has just said. We do not know how many people have died, how many are injured or how many are missing, but we do know that the internet in Iran has been brought down. Simply, the restoration of the internet would allow family members to be in touch, to seek those who are missing and to know more of what is happening. What representations are the Government making on that issue, which would bring some solace to so many deeply hurting families in this appalling situation?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

On the opening point about our lack of ability to understand just how many people have been killed so far, estimates range from 3,000 to many times that, and I think that, as information emerges, we will be horrified at what is revealed. He is also right to remind us of how vital communications infrastructure is, most principally, of course, through access to the internet. We want as much as anybody to see that restored. There is a reason that these things are removed by regimes at moments such as this, and it is not difficult to work out what that is—it is about hiding what is happening and preventing people from organising, communicating and supporting one another.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, will the Minister commit that we will be unrelenting in working with like-minded nations in holding to account those who have been responsible for these atrocities, these massacres, on such a scale? Before the House debates the report of the Joint Committee on Human Rights on transnational repression, on 26 February, will she undertake to go back and look at the evidence about the persecution of BBC Persian journalists, independent journalists and pro-democracy activists in this country, and at the current inquiry of the Charity Commission into one charity which has been promoting the IRGC and its narrative? Secondly, will the Minister look at the potential use of Wilton Park as a place to bring together the disparate elements who form the opposition—not least people such as Maryam Rajavi but also supporters of other groups—to see whether a proper alliance can be constructed of like-minded groups to promote democracy and the rule of law?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I completely agree with the noble Lord on accountability, and we have used our position on the Human Rights Council to further that and to get missions in place to gather the facts that are needed. I will of course read what he suggests on transnational repression; it is incredibly important, and I will make sure that I do that. I have not looked at the Charity Commission issue that he raised, but I will commit to doing so. I welcome the suggestion around Wilton Park; it is a very useful opportunity to get people together in a closed environment to have the kind of conversations that can make a real difference to these situations.

[Lord Cryer (Lab)]

My Lords, the impression has been created that government policy has changed and that we are about to ban the IRGC or will do so at some point in the near future. Is that the case, or is it not, because some of us are starting to get a bit fed up with raising this?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I appreciate the frustration that my noble friend feels and I would never seek to make him feel that way—I have known him for a long time and I know how he can get. All I can do is restate the position. We commissioned the review by Jonathan Hall, and we accept fully his recommendations, which are that we need a change to our legal framework in order to do that which the noble Lord wants to see happen. We are committed to doing that, because we need to do that first, and we have made that commitment. If he wishes to continue to push with urgency on that, it would not be an unhelpful role for him to play and I know that it is one that he will do well.

[Baroness Foster of Oxton (Con)]

My Lords, I echo and support the comments made by my noble friend on the Front Bench. For clarification, approximately 35,000 unarmed civilians have been slaughtered already in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the figures for injuries run at about 350,000, so we are not talking about 3,000 victims here; we are talking about very many indeed. The last Government proscribed Hizb ut-Tahrir. I therefore say to the noble Baroness that that, clearly, was a difficult thing to do as well, so I cannot for the life of me see what additional complications there could be to proscribing the IRGC.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

In that case, the noble Baroness could do a lot worse than read Jonathan Hall’s work, which explains this fully. We do need a legislative change. Clearly, this could have been done many years previously and was not considered at that point. Hizb ut-Tahrir was proscribed eventually and, obviously, we welcomed that. I would hope that we would get a welcome for the steps that we are taking regarding the IRGC as well.