Iran: Protests

Lord Alton of Liverpool Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

First, it is not correct that our ambassador in Tehran was summoned. They had a conversation when they attended the MFA for another purpose, but that is a very different situation from the one reported, which I think the noble Lord will have read. We do not comment about proscriptions ahead of time and we keep them under close review. However, I point noble Lords to the work done by Jonathan Hall and the suggestions that he made about proscription-like measures. The Government intend to implement these in due course.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, has the Minister seen the report today about the killing of 23 year-old Rubina Aminian, a young woman who was shot at close range in the back of her head? She is one of thousands of pro-democracy protesters who have lost their lives already. They join the 1,922 who were executed by the regime last year alone, as well as Mahsa Amini, the young woman who died after discarding her hijab. It is not unreasonable to ask, as the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, did, whether we will take further action on the proscription of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Additionally, what we can do to try to restore communications in Iran in any way, so that people can know what is going on? What advice are we giving to British nationals and dual citizens who are in Iran at present?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

One of the issues that we face is our current inability to get verifiable information out of Iran, because the regime has closed the internet. That makes life very difficult. However, the noble Lord is absolutely right to remind us of some of the horrors that we know about already. As more information emerges, we will want to respond. I have said what I have said about proscription and the IRGC, but we are concerned about British nationals and we have clear travel advice not to travel to Iran. There are British nationals there at the moment. Sadly, we know of some who are being wrongly held. The Foremans have even been charged with espionage, which is clearly wrong. They should be released immediately.