Iran

Lord Hannay of Chiswick Excerpts

Thursday 15th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

Noble Lords will know that we were not involved in the measures that the United States took a few months ago. There are constant conversations between the United Kingdom and US counterparts on this and many other issues. I do not think it is right for me to answer directly the question that the noble and gallant Lord puts, other than to assure him that communication is good and constant, and we raise all the issues that noble Lords would expect us to raise.

[Lord Hannay of Chiswick (CB)]

My Lords, will the Minister give us some idea of the FCDO’s analysis and whether it demonstrates that this latest outburst of entirely legitimate demonstrations, met with extreme violence, is more serious, far reaching and widespread in the country than any that we have previously seen, and that it is extremely unlikely to be the last, even if the peak of this particular set of demonstrations may now, briefly, have passed? Can we focus our thoughts for the future on making it clear to the people of Iran that, if they were able to have a Government who could meet international obligations, whether on nuclear, human rights or other matters, Iran would be a welcome member of the international community, and many of the problems that they are facing could be addressed in a positive manner? Does she agree that making that clear is part of an overall approach to how to handle an important country in the Middle East?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

The analysis that I have seen suggests that this current situation has peaked, but our interpretation—I suspect it is shared across the House—is that that does not show any diminution in the desire of the protesters to see an improvement in their situation and their ability to live in freedom. It is because so many are losing their lives, and it is a decision to stay at home because of fear. Nobody really knows how this is going to progress, but there is no doubt, as the noble Lord says, that these protests have been far more wide ranging than those we have seen previously.

Our position in relation to Iran would clearly change should there be a regime that enabled the population to live in freedom. Noble Lords know, because we have discussed this previously, that we take into account the fact that the regime in Iran weaponises things we say in order to stack up their false narrative when they purport that these protests are in some way orchestrated by external forces. Clearly they are not, but we need to take that into account. We also have British nationals being held in Iran, and we do not want to further jeopardise their situation. I agree with the noble Lord that this looks and feels very different from what we have seen before, and I think that perception will only increase once communication becomes possible again.