Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart about reports that the Iranian Government has increased sanctions and threats to (a) individuals, (b)security services and (c) journalists at BBC Persian and Iran International for reporting the protests in that country.

Iran's sanctions announcement of 19 October was a predictable and transparent reaction to the human rights designations that the UK Government imposed on 10 October. Our sanctions show that the UK is committed to holding Iran to account for the shocking violence it is inflicting on its own people. The UK ambassador has spoken with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on four occasions about their complaints at media reporting of the protest in the UK. The UK is a fierce champion of media freedom and proud member of the Media Freedom Coalition. We condemn the Iranian authorities' crackdown on protestors, journalists and internet freedom, and continue to raise our concerns with Iran at all appropriate opportunities.