Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to prevent additional British citizens being imprisoned for the purpose of diplomatic leverage in Iran.

The safety and security of British citizens in Iran is of paramount importance, and we call on Iran to uphold its commitments under international law to treat all detainees in line with international standards. The Foreign Secretary continues to raise his concerns over arbitrary detentions, most recently with Foreign Minister Zarif on 16 March. Our Ambassador to Iran has consistently raised this issue with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We will continue to lobby the Iranian Government at the most senior level for the urgent release of all dual national detainees on humanitarian grounds. The FCO advise against all but essential travel to Iran. However, for British-Iranian dual nationals the FCO continue to advise against all travel to Iran.