Asked by: Lord Grade of Yarmouth (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of Iran’s financial and material support for Hamas.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We remain deeply concerned by Iran’s ongoing financial and material support for Hamas and other Palestinian rejectionist groups. The supply of arms to Hamas contravenes the embargo on Iranian arms exports established by UN Security Council Resolution 1747 and undermines prospects for peace and stability in the Middle East.
Asked by: Lord Grade of Yarmouth (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Iran about the detention of journalists in Iran.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Freedom of expression in Iran is severely restricted. Iran has one of the highest numbers of journalists in prison in the world. News outlets and online media are heavily censored and the majority of newspapers are now government controlled. The UK continues to urge Iran to guarantee the rights of all its citizens in line with its international obligations. We last raised our concerns around freedom of expression during Iran’s Universal Periodic Review during the UN Human Rights Council on 31 October 2014.