Asked by Lord Ahmed To ask Her Majesty’s Government what
steps they are taking to encourage Iran and Saudi Arabia to work
together to bring peaceful solutions to the conflicts in Syria and
Yemen. The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord
Ahmad of Wimbledon) (Con) My Lords, Syria and Yemen are among
the two worst...Request free trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking
to encourage Iran and Saudi Arabia to work together to
bring peaceful solutions to the conflicts in Syria and
Yemen.
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The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon) (Con)
My Lords, Syria and Yemen are among the two worst
humanitarian crises in the world. A stable Middle East is
in every nation’s interest. We therefore continue to
encourage both Saudi Arabia and Iran to work towards
regional peace and stability. We also urge all countries in
the region to support the UN-led peace processes in both
Syria and Yemen. Only political solutions can end these
terrible conflicts.
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(Non-Afl)
I thank the Minister for his reply. The UN humanitarian
co-ordinator for the Syrian crisis is reported as saying
that 2018 is the worst year in Syria, with more than 7
million displaced people and the Geneva process frozen.
Meanwhile, more than 7 million people are starving in
Yemen. This is a Muslim version of the Thirty Years’ War,
between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Will Her Majesty’s
Government consider leading an EU peace mission to Yemen
and Syria consisting of specialists with knowledge of the
political, cultural and religious differences?
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My Lords, the noble Lord raises a very important point and
I concur with him. These conflicts are the worst kind of
humanitarian crises we have seen and they continue
unabated. The challenge has remained because there are
other forces at work—regional disputes and rivalries are
being played out in both Syria and Yemen. I say to the
noble Lord that the Government remain committed to the UN
processes in both regards. He is of course right that the
process in Syria, in particular, has stalled. The reason it
has stalled is primarily the Assad regime’s direct
disengagement from the process. The noble Lord makes a
practical suggestion and, while the UK Government remain
committed to ensuring that the UN mechanisms are fully
recognised, I would welcome any helpful thoughts and
processes on encouraging greater dialogue between the
different communities that constitute Syria and Yemen and
further afield.
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The
My Lords, does the Minister accept the continuing pressing
need to improve religious literacy, not least concerning
Sunni and Shia, within and without Whitehall if we in this
country are properly to understand, let alone address, the
problems to which reference has been made?
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The right reverend Prelate makes an important point. There
are many wise voices when it comes to the tragic conflict
that we sometimes see being played out by different
denominations within the context of Islam. I remind noble
Lords that there are 73 different denominations in Islam, but
Shia and Sunnis represent the majority. In this regard, any
dialogue is positive. A few months back, as part of my
responsibilities at the Foreign Office, I looked at the
important issue of countering extremism. Together with the
Vatican, we invited to Rome scholars from both the Sunni and
Shia voices of Islam to give productive and practical
suggestions on the way forward.
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(LD)
My Lords, the United Kingdom, with its European partners, is
seeking to retain the Iran nuclear deal. Might this be a time
to encourage Iran to be constructive in both Syria and Yemen,
and to release dual nationals, including Nazanin
Zaghari-Ratcliffe?
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Taking the noble Baroness’s final point first, I can assure
her and the House that we continue to raise consular cases
with Iran at every opportunity. On the wider point of
engagement, she is right that we that we have been working
with our partners to ensure that the Iranian nuclear deal
remains live and will continue to do so. In our most recent
discussions, the Foreign Secretary had a conversation with
Foreign Minister Zarif about the importance of also ensuring
that Iran plays its role in, for example, ensuring the Assad
regime comes to the table in Geneva so that we can get the
kind of peace we are all seeking for the people of Syria.
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(CB)
My Lords, women and children have been forgotten in the
concern about the Shia and Sunni discussions and yet it is
they who suffer the brunt of the violence. Will the
Government, please, concentrate on the plight of women and
children, regardless of whether they are Sunni, Shia or
anything else?
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The noble Baroness is right. I assure her and the House that
the Government are totally committed to this agenda and have
been leading on the issues of women, peace and security in
our national action plans across the world. I was in Turkey
when we launched the next Syrian action plan, and
subsequently in Iraq to launch the national action plan on
women, peace and security. Women have to be at the heart and
soul of conflict resolution. By excluding women—more than 50%
of the population—no solution can be found. Perhaps I may say
a final word to those so-called religionists who feel that by
using a noble faith they can exclude religion: you are wrong.
For every prophet of every faith, including the Prophet of
Islam, women played a central and pivotal role in all
decision-making, both internally and externally.
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(Lab)
My Lords, given the impact that sectarianism can have in a
global context, John Bew, in his excellent article in the New
Statesman this week, has pointed out that old taboos are
breaking down, with the Prime Minister of Israel going to
Moscow and the Iranians going to China. In response, will the
Government be clear about the need to speak to our allies to
ensure that we are completely up to date with this moving
situation, and that we work especially with our European
allies to ensure that the necessary peace talks take place?
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The noble Lord is right and he knows that I agree with his
sentiment. That is why—returning to the question raised by
the noble Baroness, Lady Northover—the United Kingdom,
working together with our allies, has been pivotal in
ensuring that the nuclear deal with Iran stays alive. The
noble Lord will know that the Prime Minister, together with
the President of France and the Chancellor of Germany, issued
a joint statement. It is important that walls come down—for
example, in Europe, it took a wall coming down for peace
finally to be restored. Those who build walls achieve
nothing. We are in the process of taking those walls down.
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(CB)
Underlining the question of the noble Lord, Lord Collins,
does the Minister see a changing coalition of minds in the
making—such as that of Saudi with Israel and, by extension
the United States, and that of China and Russia with
Iran—which, together with the European Union, might be
planning to counter the effects of secondary sanctions? This
brings us full circle as to which side the UK will take on
this and the Question on the Order Paper.
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I think the side the UK is taking is quite clear; we are
taking a pragmatic stance. We are the closest allies of the
United States, but when we disagree with them, we make those
differences clear, as we did on the nuclear deal. On the
importance of talks and ensuring that new alliances can be
made, we are encouraged by the visit of Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman to the UK. One notable feature of his visit that
greatly encouraged me was the fact that en route to London he
stopped in Egypt, where he visited the Coptic Church, which
was a first. That is to be encouraged.
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