Topical
Questions
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and
First Secretary of State (): Since the last oral
questions, I have called on China, with our international partners,
to adhere to its international obligations to respect the autonomy
and freedom of the people of Hong Kong; we have welcomed President
Macron to the UK from France to celebrate and pay tribute on the
80th anniversary of General de Gaulle’s appel; and I met E3
partners in Berlin last week to discuss Iran, the
middle east peace process and ongoing negotiations in relation to
Brexit.
(Redcar) (Con): The UN arms
embargo on Iran is due to expire in October 2020,
in line with the 2015 nuclear deal, yet Iran has
continued to flagrantly breach the deal since the UK triggered the
dispute resolution mechanism in January. Does my right hon. Friend
share my concern that the absence of meaningful consequences has
emboldened Iranto pursue its nuclear ambitions and
further destabilise the region? Will he act urgently, with
international partners, to extend the UN arms embargo? [904084]
: I agree with my hon.
Friend in relation to the concerns he has raised about
Iran’s conduct. We do want to keep the joint
comprehensive plan of action. We would like to do better and we
think there is an opportunity to do better in the future, but
that is what we have got now. In order to hold
Iran’s feet to the fire and to hold them to
account, the United Kingdom, with our French and German partners,
triggered the dispute resolution mechanism. I was in Berlin last
week for E3 consultations about how we will approach this issue
and how we will continue to hold Iran to
account. My hon. Friend is absolutely right; we will strive with
all of our international partners to continue the arms embargo on
Iran
