Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support human rights defenders in Iran.

We condemn the Islamic Republic's severe repression of human rights defenders in Iran. We were integral to the delivery of the Iran human rights resolution, adopted by the UN Third Committee in November 2024, which called on Iran to immediately and unconditionally release persons arbitrarily detained for the exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including human rights defenders. We continue to support the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, which under its expanded mandate, will collect and preserve evidence for recent and ongoing human rights violations in Iran. We continue to engage with Iranian diaspora groups and civil society to work together toward accountability. His Majesty's Ambassador to Iran and I continue to raise human rights directly with the Iranian government.