Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the sentencing of (a) Niloufar Hamedi and (b) Elaheh Mohammadi in Iran.

Iran remains an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country and we raise human rights issues with Iran at all appropriate opportunities. The sentencing of Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi demonstrates the brutal reality of life in Iran for journalists. As a Media Freedom Coalition member, we continue to stress the protection of journalists as a key pillar of human rights infrastructure, and to call for the immediate release of arbitrarily detained journalists. We continue to hold the Iranian authorities to account for their treatment of women. In September, we imposed sanctions on decision-makers responsible for drafting and implementing Iran's mandatory hijab law.