Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps he has take to progress the case of Anoosheh Ashoori.

We remain committed to securing the immediate and permanent release of Anoosheh Ashoori and arbitrarily detained dual British nationals in Iran so that they can return to the UK and be reunited with their families. Our Embassy in Tehran continues to request consular access to Mr Ashoori and we have been supporting his family since being made aware of his detention. The Foreign Secretary regularly raises the UK's serious concerns about Iran's practice of detaining foreign and dual nationals directly with Foreign Minister Zarif, most recently on 3 April, and the Prime Minister has raised the issue with President Rouhani, most recently on 10 March. The Ambassador in Tehran consistently raises the dual national detainees with the Iran authorities, most recently on 16 May. We remain in close contact with the family on this matter.