Iran: British
Detainees
(Walsall South) (Lab)
12. What diplomatic steps she is taking to help ensure the
release of detained British citizens during negotiations with
Iran.
The Minister for the Middle East, North Africa and North America
()
I can assure the right hon. Lady and the House that we remain
committed to securing the immediate and permanent release of
those British dual nationals unfairly detained in Iran. We
continue to work together with our international partners. The
Foreign Secretary pressed the Iranian Foreign Minister on 8
November for Anoosheh Ashoori, Morad Tahbaz and Nazanin
Zaghari-Ratcliffe to be released and to return home to be with
their families as soon as possible. I raised their cases with my
Iranian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Bagheri Kani, on 11
November. We continue to call on Iran to do the right thing and
allow the immediate release and return home of these British dual
nationals.
I thank the Minister for his answer, but that was in November.
Anoosheh Ashoori is on hunger strike and he needs diplomatic
protection. He is innocent. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, six years
a hostage: innocent. Morad Tahbaz, an environmentalist: innocent.
Mehran Raoof, a trade unionist: innocent. Will the Minister
commit to working closely with the United States special envoy
Robert Malley to bring these innocent hostages home?
I would remind the right hon. Lady of the point I made before.
Our Department works tirelessly, daily, in our attempts to bring
these people home and we do so not because questions are raised
in the House or sent to us in correspondence but because it is
the right thing to do and it is what we are committed to doing.
We work tirelessly with international partners, both in the
region and across the Atlantic, to bring about the release of
these people, whose detention is completely illegitimate and
completely wrong and is the sole responsibility of the Iranian
Government. They are the ones who are in the position to release
these people and we call on them to do so immediately.
Topical
Questions
(Bracknell)
(Con): As talks continue in Vienna on reviving the joint
comprehensive plan of action nuclear deal, there are fears that
Iran gets ever closer to a nuclear weapon. Will my right hon.
Friend please convince the House of what is happening to maintain
peace in the middle east?
: This negotiation is
urgent, and progress has not been fast enough. We continue to
work in close partnership with our allies, but the negotiations
are reaching a dangerous impasse. Iran must now choose whether it
wants to conclude a deal or be responsible for the collapse of
the JCPOA. If the JCPOA
collapses, all options are on the table.
