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 Iranian Government on the release from prison of (a) Soheil Arabi, (b) Sina Dehgan and (c) Mohammed Nourie, as a result of the risk of contracting covid-19 in those prisons.

We routinely discuss with Iran our concerns relating to the risks posed by COVID-19 in Iran and have provided funding to the UN to help combat the rapid spread of the disease. On 9 May President Rouhani acknowledged that there were known cases of COVID-19 in Iranian prisons. We are urgently seeking further information from the Iranian authorities on these reports and have consistently raised this with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We continue to express our concerns to the Government of Iran at the ongoing incarceration of prisoners of conscience and religion, and encourage Iran to live up to its international human rights obligations towards all its citizens.