Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications of reports that Venezuela and Iran are establishing a maritime bridge between the two countries for the shipping of commercial products by sea.

The UK is following cooperation between Iran and Venezuela closely and will continue to stand up for UK values and security interests, and those of our partners. The FCDO works closely with the relevant cross government enforcement bodies to ensure the robust implementation of existing UK sanctions. We have sanctioned 41 Venezuelan individuals responsible for human rights abuses, the undermining of democracy and corruption offences, and over 300 Iranian individuals and entities in relation to activities including human rights abuses, terrorism and weapons proliferation.