In a response to a letter from , Chair of the
International Relations and Defence Committee, the
Government has clarified its position on rising tensions in the
Gulf and the future of the Iran nuclear
deal.
On 8 October Baroness Anelay wrote to
the Minister of State for the Middle East and North
Africa to express the Committee’s concern at rising
tensions in the Gulf, and to seek clarification on
the Government’s position on Iran and the wider
region.
Key requests to the
Government made by the
Committee:
-
Outline the evidence on
which the assessment that Iran carried out the 14
September attacks against Saudi Arabian oil
facilities was based;
-
Explain the actions the Government is taking
to de-escalate regional
tensions;
-
Give an assessment of the efficacy of the
United States’ policy towards Iran;
and
-
Clarify whether the Prime Minister’s
interview with NBC News, in which he said he
believed the Iran nuclear deal had “many, many defects”
and expressed hope that there would be a “Trump
deal” to succeed it, represented a shift in policy by the
Government.
Read Baroness Anelay’s letter in
full here.
Dr Andrew Murrison MP, Minister of
State for the Middle East and North Africa, has now responded
to these questions. The response can be read in
full here.
Chair of the House of Lords International
Relations and Defence Committee, , said:
“We were concerned that the Prime
Minister’s suggestion that he hoped there
would be a ‘Trump deal’ on
Iran could represent a weakening of the
UK’s commitment to the existing Iran
nuclear deal. We are reassured by
Dr Murrison that this is not the
case.
“As the Committee has repeatedly concluded,
the US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal was
contrary to the United Kingdom’s interests, and the Government
has been right to defend and seek to sustain the
deal.”
-
Read the Committee’s report ‘Rising nuclear
risk, disarmament and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty’ here.
