Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the destabilising activities in the Middle East of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps.
(Con)
I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order
Paper and refer the House to my registered interest as the
honorary president of Conservative Friends of Israel
(Con)
My Lords, the Government regularly assess the impact of the
IRGC’s destabilising activity throughout the region, including
its political, financial and military support to several militant
and proscribed groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria,
militias in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen. Such activity
compromises the region’s security and ability to prosper and it
escalates high tensions. It is for this reason that we have over
200 UK sanctions listings in place against Iran, including the
IRGC in its entirety, and support the enforcement of UN
prohibitions on the proliferation of weapons to non-state
actors.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords—
(Con)
I thank my noble friend for the Answer, but has he had time to
read Roger Boyes’ article in today’s Times? We have failed to
hold the IRGC to account for its regional destabilisation
activities, such as the downing of Ukraine International Airlines
flight 752 in January 2020 or the killing of British citizen
Adrian Underwood on “MV Mercer Street” in July 2021. Roger Boyes
concluded that
“Iran is led by a toxic alliance of aggrieved religious leaders
and a corrupt revolutionary guard with a brief to sow
discord”.
Her Majesty’s Government rightly proscribed Hezbollah. Hezbollah
was a creation of the IRGC, so can I ask my noble friend to press
his colleagues at the Home Office to fully proscribe the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps?
(Con)
I thank my noble friend for his question. I have read Roger
Boyes’ article and agree with his sentiments. We have been clear
about our concerns about the IRGC’s continued destabilising
activity throughout the region. It is for this reason that the
IRGC is sanctioned in its entirety by the UK, as I mentioned. The
list of proscribed organisations is kept under constant review,
but we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or
is not under consideration for proscription.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, I apologise for my early intervention. The
revolutionary guards appear to have more power than the Iranian
Government. Does the noble Lord agree that the continued unlawful
detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is largely due to their
malevolent influence? Did the British Government support the
pre-emptive assassination of military commander Qasem Soleimani
by the American Government in 2020?
(Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his question. I do not know whether
the continued detention of Nazanin is related to the IRGC and I
am afraid that I cannot comment on the British Government’s
opinions on that particular incident.
(LD)
My Lords, when we debated the proscription of Hamas, the noble
Baroness, Lady Williams, agreed to meet me and the noble Lord,
. Her office has
not been in touch, so could the Minister chase that for us,
please? Hamas is one of the organisations with a link to that
malignant group, the IRGC. Since America proscribed the corps in
April 2019, the UK presumably has been in constant contact. The
Government gave a lot of detail on the proscription of Hamas, so
I am not sure why the Government are not prepared to say what
differences we have from the United States, given the fact that
the US has proscribed it.
(Con)
My Lords, I will certainly take that back and ask the department
to get in touch with the noble Lord. I am obviously not qualified
to comment on the opinions or actions of the United States. I can
only reiterate what I said about the proscription of the
IRGC.
(CB)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that religious fanaticism, on
which groups such as the revolutionary guard, ISIS, and some here
in the UK thrive, is best countered by a far more robust
questioning of dated negative culture, which attaches itself
virus-like to religion? If religion is used in this way, it
should be countered by vigorous debate. It is certainly not a
private matter. Does the Minister agree that that discussion and
debate should be given priority?
(Con)
I entirely agree with the noble Lord.
(Lab)
My Lords, one month ago the Iranians exercised a practice dummy
rum attacking the Dimona nuclear facility in Israel using 16
ballistic missiles and lots of drones. A number of agencies are
now assessing that Iran will have a nuclear weapon capability
within months. Where have we got to in trying to restart the
JCPOA discussions to try to stop what is rapidly rushing towards
a situation where there will be a war in the Middle East as well
as in Ukraine?
(Con)
The noble Lord is right to raise the issue of ballistic missiles.
It might be worth my pointing out that UN Security Council
Resolution 2231, which was unanimously adopted in the Security
Council and underpins the JCPOA, calls on Iran not to undertake
activities related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable
of delivering a nuclear weapon, including launches using such
ballistic missile technology. Those ballistic missile
restrictions remain in place until 2023. The noble Lord will be
aware that negotiations under the JCPOA have restarted. They were
suspended in the middle of last year while there was a change in
the Iranian Government. We still believe that the JCPOA offers
the best way forward.
(Non-Afl)
How is it possible that the JCPOA has achieved anything, when,
since signing up to it in 2015, Iran has carried out several
ballistic missile tests, built new fortified missile bunkers,
lied about the development of nuclear weapons to target our
ally Israel and waged a
shadow war against shipping in the Gulf, in addition, as we have
heard, to kidnapping and killing British citizens? Do we not need
a much tougher and robust approach when dealing with Iran, with a
much tougher regime of sanctions, including against the new
president?
(Con)
My Lords, the JCPOA is not perfect, but it still represents the
best and currently only framework for monitoring and constraining
Iran’s nuclear programme. Our objective is to realise the
benefits of the deal. A restored deal could pave the way for
further discussions on regional and security concerns, including
in support of a non-proliferation regime.
of Childs Hill (LD)
My Lords, I was pleased to hear the Minister say that he had read
Roger Boyes’ article in today’s Times. Iran has been training
drone pilots at Kashan. This week they attacked Abu Dhabi
airport. Will the Minister inform your Lordships’ House of the
involvement of the revolutionary guard in the training and
belligerent activities of these drones?
(Con)
The UK strongly condemns the Houthi-based claimed attacks on the
UAE. We are in contact with our Emirati partners and have offered
the UK’s solidarity and support. The Foreign Secretary tweeted
about this on 17 January. She said:
“I condemn in the strongest terms the Houthi claim to terrorist
attacks on the UAE”.
(Lab)
My Lords, can I push the Minister a little more in response to my
noble friend’s question on the JCPOA? We have a lot of evidence
about the Iranian Government, the IRGC and the detention of dual
nationals—all evidence of their refusal to comply with
international law. Can the noble Lord tell us whether there have
been more detailed discussions with our allies about how we
broaden the scope of the JCPOA to include the issue of ballistic
missiles?
(Con)
As I mentioned in answer to an earlier question, the negotiations
in Vienna were suspended in June—the Iranians halted talks on 20
June—but they restarted in Iran on 29 November. We are in
constant contact with our allies and partners on this, including
the E3 and of course the US.
(Con)
My Lords, given that, as we have already heard, British citizens
have died as a result of numerous actions of terrorism by the
IRGC, can my noble friend indicate what sort of British body
count we are looking at before the IRGC is proscribed as a
terrorist group?
(Con)
My Lords, I cannot do that. However, I can condemn the unlawful
and callous attacks to which I think the noble Lord may be
referring and to which others have also referred, which were
committed on a merchant vessel off the coast of Oman, killing a
British and a Romanian national. Obviously, our thoughts are with
the friends and family of those killed in that incident. For what
it is worth, we believe that that attack was deliberate, targeted
and a clear violation of international law. The UK used its
presidency of the G7 to co-ordinate a very strongly worded
statement against Iran, which I think was the first of its
kind.
(CB)
My Lords, among those who were killed on flight 752, when 150
people were left dead, were UK nationals. Will the noble Lord
return to the question asked to him by his noble friend and tell us what progress is
being made on the claims for restitution that have been made by
the families of the UK citizens and citizens from many other
countries?
(Con)
The UK is committed to securing justice for the victims on the
flight to which the noble Lord refers. The UK is working closely
with partners in the International Coordination and Response
Group to achieve this. My right honourable friend is a member of and
co-ordinates UK interests in that group.
