Iran

Christian Matheson Excerpts

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. We want the broadest possible support for policing freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz and the wider region. The IMSC has broadened its support, but we also want the European-led initiatives to come on board. Ideally, we would like to join them together. It should not be a question of whether it is a US or an EU flag on the initiatives or the operations; we want to broaden them and bring them together because that is the most effective way to police freedom of navigation.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

I have little time for either the Government of Iran or the Government of Saudi Arabia and I wonder whether it is always necessary to choose sides. I therefore welcome the Secretary of State’s focus on de-escalation. I echo the concerns of my hon. Friends the Members for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins) and for Preston (Sir Mark Hendrick) that the American Government’s antics seem to give Iran an excuse to walk away from agreements, which they would not have if the Trump regime were not behaving in such a way.

[Dominic Raab]

As I have already said, we remain committed to the JCPOA, but as others have concluded, it is not perfect. It has its limitations, which is why we want a more ambitious and all-encompassing deal that is more effective on the nuclear side of things and also tackles a whole range of destabilising initiatives that Iran engages in, which hon. Members of all parties have raised today.