Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the arrest of Mr Afif Naemi in Iran; and if he will make a statement.

The UK unequivocally condemns the persecution of religious minorities in Iran. We are appalled by reports of the regime's increased detentions of Baha'is, including community leaders such as Mr Afif Naemi, as well as expropriation of land and destruction of homes of the Baha'i community.

On 20 December 2022, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Fiona Bruce, expressed the UK's condemnation of the sentencing of Baha'i leaders Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi to a further decade of imprisonment. We continue to work closely with our international partners to hold Iran to account for its dire human rights record and raise these issues with the regime at all appropriate opportunities.