Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the consequences for his policies of the letter to the Iranian Judiciary from Iranian parliamentarians urging severe punishments for detained protesters.

The sentencing to death of protestors in Iran is abhorrent. I condemned this tragic development in the House on 16 November. The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and will challenge the Iranian regime's violent response to protests. On 14 November, the UK sanctioned 24 individuals for violations of human rights in the repression of protests. This is on top of sanctions on 10 October against Iran's so called "morality police" and seven security officials. On 24 November, the UK supported a successful Human Rights Council resolution to establish a UN investigation into the regime's appalling human rights violations during the protests.