Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made representations to the government of Iran regarding the death sentences imposed upon Toomaj Salehi, Abbas Deries, Reza Rasaei and Mojahed Kourkour.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns the death sentence of prominent and fearless artist Toomaj Salehi. Iran's deliberate attempts to silence dissenting voices are clear for all to see. We call for Mr Salehi's immediate release, and the release of all those who are unjustly detained by the Iranian regime. Mr Salehi's sentence is yet more evidence of unacceptable restrictions on freedom of expression in Iran. Nine people associated with the "Woman Life Freedom" protests have been executed.
The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We condemn Iran's continued imposition of the death penalty on protesters and have sanctioned 94 Iranian individuals or entities for human rights violations since September 2022. We call on Iran to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his Iranian counterpart on Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns the death sentence of prominent and fearless artist Toomaj Salehi. Iran's deliberate attempts to silence dissenting voices are clear for all to see. We call for Mr Salehi's immediate release, and the release of all those who are unjustly detained by the Iranian regime. Mr Salehi's sentence is yet more evidence of unacceptable restrictions on freedom of expression in Iran. Nine people associated with the "Woman Life Freedom" protests have been executed.
The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We condemn Iran's continued imposition of the death penalty on protesters and have sanctioned 94 Iranian individuals or entities for human rights violations since September 2022. We call on Iran to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will summon the Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and call for (a) the revocation of Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence, (b) his unconditional release, and (c) a nationwide moratorium on executions.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns the death sentence of prominent and fearless artist Toomaj Salehi. Iran's deliberate attempts to silence dissenting voices are clear for all to see. We call for Mr Salehi's immediate release, and the release of all those who are unjustly detained by the Iranian regime. Mr Salehi's sentence is yet more evidence of unacceptable restrictions on freedom of expression in Iran. Nine people associated with the "Woman Life Freedom" protests have been executed.
The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We condemn Iran's continued imposition of the death penalty on protesters and have sanctioned 94 Iranian individuals or entities for human rights violations since September 2022. We call on Iran to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of banning flights by Iran Air to the UK.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Alongside Whitehall partners we continue to explore measures to deter Iran from their hostile and destabilising activity. However, we do not publicly speculate on future restrictive measures.
We have however sanctioned more than 400 Iranian individuals and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in its entirety - for roles in weapons proliferation, regional conflicts, human rights violations, and threats to UK based individuals. We have also introduced new UK trade restrictions on the supply of drone components as part of our wider Iran sanctions regime introduced in December 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent reports indicating that Iran has exported Shahed drones and drone technology to Serbia; and of the impact of this on peace and stability in the Western Balkans.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have seen no evidence that Iran has exported Shahed drones and drone technology to Serbia. We are counselling Serbia to approach its defence procurement with care, as it sensibly seeks to diversify and modernise its defence capabilities. When the Foreign Secretary met President Vucic in Munich in February, he underlined the importance of Serbia supporting efforts to build and support regional stability.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what diplomatic steps the Foreign Secretary is taking to help de-escalate hostilities between Israel and Iran in order to prevent a wider Middle East war.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We condemned in the strongest terms Iran's direct attack against Israel on 13 April. The UK will continue to stand up for Israel's security and the security of all our regional partners. We are working urgently with our allies to deescalate the situation.
The Foreign Secretary spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian on 14 April and called for Iran to take immediate action to de-escalate, including by restraining their aligned militia groups and immediately releasing the MSC Aries and her crew. Furthermore, the UK announced new sanctions on Iran on 18 April, and in coordination with the US, targeted those who have enabled Iran's destabilising regional activity.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the recent participation of the RAF in intercepting Iranian drones aimed at Israel required UK military assets to be withdrawn from any other exercise or deployment.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We already have a significant presence in the region, but as a prudent measure a number of aircraft were temporarily moved from our NATO operations in Romania to bolster our existing presence. We coordinated with NATO and our Allies to ensure there was no impact to existing operations.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total cost to all parties of intercepting Iranian drones launched against Israel on 13 April; and what proportion of that cost was borne by the UK.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Net Additional Costs of Military Operations will be identified and reported in the Annual Report and Accounts in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the recent interception of Iranian drones by the RAF was part of Operation Shader; if so, whether the remit of Operation Shader has been expanded; and if so, in what way.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The deployment of additional RAF aircraft to the region was authorised to intercept any attacks within range of existing missions. The remit of Op SHADER has not changed, it remains focused solely on countering Daesh.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord True on 15 April (HL Deb col 844), whether all those ships mentioned have funding in the Ministry of Defence programme.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Type 26, Type 31, Dreadnought, Astute and SSN-AUKUS are all fully funded, along with the Fleet Solid Support ships, and one of two Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Vessels, (MROS) has been procured. Funding for these programmes is split between the Navy and Defence Nuclear Enterprise, which primarily funds Dreadnought, Astute and SSN-AUKUS.
The Multi-Role Support Ship, the Type 32, the Type 83 programmes and the second MROS are all within, or in the process of, moving into the concept phase and therefore further work is required to establish their funding requirements. During this phase the procurement and whole life costs of the programme are determined. The programme and procurement strategy for these programmes will be decided following the concept phase. This is consistent with programmes of this size and complexity at this stage of their development.