Lords EU Committee to hold one-off evidence session on Iran nuclear deal

On Thursday 20 June 2019 the House of Lords EU External Affairs Sub-Committee will be holding a one-off public evidence session on the Iran nuclear deal.

At 10.00am the Committee will hear from:

• Ellie Geranmayeh, Deputy Director and Senior Policy Fellow of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the European Council of Foreign Relations (ECFR)
• Sir Richard Dalton, former Associate Fellow at Chatham House and former UK Ambassador to Iran.

Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:

• How serious are Iran’s threats to cease some of its commitments under the deal, in response to the US pulling out? Would this invalidate the agreement altogether?
• If the US was to successfully sanction the Iranian Special Trade and Finance Institute, and with it the EU’s INSTEX vehicle, how could Europe continue to trade with Iran?
• Could China and Russia play a role in saving the deal?
• Is it realistic for China to continue buying increased amounts of Iranian oil as a way of reducing the effects of US sanctions? 
• If the EU was unable to save the deal, how could it prevent Iran from furthering its nuclear programme? 
• What impact on relations between Iran, the US, and the EU could recent explosions on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman have, which the US and UK claim Iran is responsible for?