Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the Government will take steps to encourage G7 allies to commit support for the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace at the G7 Summit in May 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are in frequent contact with our G7 partners on range of important foreign policy issues, including Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the peace process. Political directors from G7 foreign ministries met in Japan on 8-9 March and discussed steps we can take to calm tensions, reduce violence and keep open opportunities to pursue meaningful dialogue between the Israeli and the Palestinians. We are in close contact with the US about the fund and we are considering options for collaboration.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to impose sanctions against Iranian government officials for that government's reaction to the protestsin that country following the death of Mahsa Amini.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The UK has over 200 sanctions designations in place against Iran in relation to human rights, nuclear proliferation and terrorism. On 10 October, the UK used the dedicated Iran Human Rights sanctions regime to designate the so-called Morality Police, two of its leaders and five others for serious human rights violations. This brings the total to 85 individuals and two entities sanctioned under that regime. It is longstanding practice not to speculate on future sanctions designations, as to do so could reduce the impact of the designations. A full list is available on the UK Sanctions List.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-sanctions-on-iran-relating-to-human-rights
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department recognises (a) British nationals and (b) dual Iranian-British nationals detained by the Iranian government as state hostages.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The UK does not, and never will, accept our nationals being used as diplomatic leverage. It remains in Iran's gift to release any British National who has been unfairly detained. We urge the Government of Iran to stop its practice of unfairly detaining British and other foreign nationals, and we will continue to work with like-minded partners to that end.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to set out how the UK plans to combat the threat posed by Iranian disinformation in the UK and internationally.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously and is working with partners to combat false and misleading narratives. We have long been clear about our concerns over Iran's continued destabilising activity. This includes information operations against our allies in the Middle East, Europe and North America. As the Foreign Secretary has made clear, the UK is committed to working with the international community to ensure Iran abides by international laws and norms and is held to account for its destabilising activity.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the UK is taking internationally to challenge Iran's state hostage taking against UK and dual nationals.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK does not, and never will, accept our nationals being used as diplomatic leverage. It is vital that the international community take a firm stand against this abhorrent practice, wherever it arises. Under the UK Presidency of the G7 in 2021, leaders made opposing arbitrary detention a key priority for international action, including amplifying the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations. The UK was among the first countries to endorse this declaration, an initiative led by Canada. We continue to work with likeminded partners around the world to challenge Iran's practice of unfairly detaining British and other foreign nationals.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she will take to ensure that Russian Oligarchs are unable to exploit loopholes in sanctions imposed on that group by the Government.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The new dedicated 'Kleptocracy Cell' in the National Crime Agency (NCA) will target criminal sanctions evasion and corrupt assets hidden in the UK. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) works extremely closely with the NCA, and this includes close cooperation on sanctions breaches. The vast majority of the designations made on 15 March were made possible under new powers in the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act. This has given the Government the ability to immediately designate individuals and entities under an urgent procedure, while evidence is gathered to sanction them under standard processes.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to encourage Saudi Arabia to normalise relations with Israel.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The United Kingdom warmly welcomed the normalisation agreements between Israel and Arab partners Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan. The Foreign Secretary made clear her commitment to the Abraham Accords at both the recent UK-Israel Strategic Dialogue on 29 November, and subsequently at the Gulf Cooperation Council-United Kingdom Foreign Ministers' Meeting on 20 December. The UK is working with regional partners to ensure the Abraham Accords are an enduring success, and continue to encourage other countries who have not yet normalised to do so.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2021 to Question 71291, whether the Government has encouraged the Mauritanian Government to normalise diplomatic relations with Israel in bilateral meetings.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The United Kingdom warmly welcomed the normalisation agreements between Israel and Arab partners Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan. The Foreign Secretary made clear her commitment to the Abraham Accords at both the recent UK-Israel Strategic Dialogue on 29 November, and subsequently at the Gulf Cooperation Council-United Kingdom Foreign Ministers' Meeting on 20 December. The UK is working with regional partners to ensure the Abraham Accords are an enduring success, and continue to encourage other countries who have not yet normalised to do so.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2021 to Question 71288, whether the Government has encouraged the Omani Government to normalise diplomatic relations with Israel in bilateral meetings.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The United Kingdom warmly welcomed the normalisation agreements between Israel and Arab partners Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan. The Foreign Secretary made clear her commitment to the Abraham Accords at both the recent UK-Israel Strategic Dialogue on 29 November, and subsequently at the Gulf Cooperation Council-United Kingdom Foreign Ministers' Meeting on 20 December. The UK is working with regional partners to ensure the Abraham Accords are an enduring success, and continue to encourage other countries who have not yet normalised to do so.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2021 to Question 60364 on Iraq: Israel, whether the UK has encouraged the Iraqi Government to normalise diplomatic relations with Israel in bilateral meetings.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The United Kingdom warmly welcomed the normalisation agreements between Israel and Arab partners Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan. The Foreign Secretary made clear her commitment to the Abraham Accords at both the recent UK-Israel Strategic Dialogue on 29 November, and subsequently at the Gulf Cooperation Council-United Kingdom Foreign Ministers' Meeting on 20 December. The UK is working with regional partners to ensure the Abraham Accords are an enduring success, and continue to encourage other countries who have not yet normalised to do so.