Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the authorities in Iran on upholding the human rights of (a) Christians and (b) other religious and ethnic minorities in that country; and if he will make a statement.

​Iran's human rights record continues to be of serious concern to the UK, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has designated it as one of its Human Rights Priority Countries. The continued restrictions on freedoms of expression, religion and belief are deeply worrying, as is the discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities. While some religious minorities are formally protected in the constitution, the reality is that many non-Muslims face discrimination. Despite constitutional recognition, the persecution of Christians has been continuous, systemic, and institutionalised, and we are particularly concerned by the continuing systematic discrimination, harassment and targeting of members of the Baha'i faith. We regularly raise the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities in Iran with the Iranian Government, and we continue to take action with the international community to press Iran to improve its poor record on all human rights issues.