Iran: Protests

Baroness Hoey Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question. I make a very clear point of never responding to that kind of hypothetical question; I shall not break that today, but I note what he says, in particular about Iran’s importance in terms of security in that part of the wo0rld.

[Baroness Hoey (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, we saw the appalling pictures of the security guards displaying the bodies thanks to the work of very brave Iranians getting the message out before all the social media was locked down. Does the Minister agree that social media has shown its importance in the first two weeks of these protests? Would she congratulate Elon Musk on being able to get Starlink into Iran so that some opportunity will be given for Iranians to get their message out?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

Do you know what: the noble Baroness is right about this. Because we have been unable to gain access for journalists, citizen journalism has become all that we have, and the reports that have been able to be shared have been vital in alerting the world to what is going on. That can be said for very many of these precarious locations and places where it is difficult to gain access. The extent to which I am prepared to stand here and thank Elon Musk for anything is a different question, but I agree with her about the vital role that social media has played.