Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to raise the issue of women's rights protests in Iran with his foreign counterparts.

The violence levelled at protestors in Iran by the security forces is truly shocking. On 3 October the Foreign Secretary instructed the FCDO to summon Mehdi Hosseini Matin, Iran's most senior diplomat in the UK, over the Iranian authorities' violent crackdown on protests following the death of Mahsa Amini. At the meeting the UK Government made its position clear: instead of blaming external actors for the unrest, the Iranian authorities should take responsibility for their actions and listen to the concerns of their people.

The UK will continue to work with its partners to hold the Iranian authorities to account for their flagrant violations of universal human rights. On Monday 10 October, the UK announced sanctions on the Morality Police and two of its leaders. The UK also imposed sanctions on five other leading political and security officials for committing serious human rights violations in Iran. These sanctions send a clear message to the Iranian authorities that the UK will hold it to account for its repression of women and girls and for the shocking violence inflicted on its own people.