CFI Parliamentary Chairmen Rt. Hon. and Rt. Hon.
The , and CFI
Honorary President CBE, have urged Foreign Secretary to support an extension to the UN arms embargo on Iran,
describing the UK’s decision to abstain on a recent UN Security
Council Resolution to extend the embargo as “deeply regrettable”.
They underline that “the upcoming gathering of the Joint
Commission presents an important opportunity to hold Iran to
account”, emphasising that “we must remain clear-sighted about
the risk Iran poses to the region and ensure that Iran’s failure
to comply with requests from the IAEA does not go unchallenged”.
In a letter to the Foreign Secretary today, the Conservative
parliamentarians contend that “Iran has violated both the letter
and spirit” of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA)
Nuclear Deal since the agreement was signed in 2015.
Reflecting on the Foreign Secretary’s previous description of the
JCPoA as a “hollow shell” and his condemnation of Iran’s
“systematic non-compliance”, the parliamentarians assess that
“diplomatic good-faith efforts since the E3 triggered the dispute
resolution mechanism (DRM) in January have regrettably been in
vain; Iran has continued to flagrantly breach its commitments
under the JCPoA”.
Rt. Hon. , Rt. Hon.
The and CBE observe that
“despite these extensive violations, the UN conventional arms
embargo on Iran is set to expire on 18th October 2020 in line
with the sunset clauses in UN Security Council Resolution 2231”
which endorsed the JCPoA. “In only two months’ time, Iran will be
permitted to procure advanced weaponry which will no doubt end up
in the hands of Iran’s regional proxies including Hezbollah in
Lebanon, Shia militias in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen”, which
“directly harms UK foreign interests and threatens our regional
allies”.
“The UK Government's recent decision to abstain on a UN Security
Council resolution to extend the arms embargo is therefore deeply
regrettable”, they write.
Urging the UK Government to “support efforts to extend the
embargo”, the parliamentarians add that the UK should “ultimately
pursue a new agreement in coordination with other major powers to
address ongoing concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme and
regional activities”.
They wish the Foreign Secretary “a successful visit to Israel
this week”, where “no doubt these issues will be high on the
agenda”.
