Oral Answers to Questions

John Baron Excerpts

Tuesday 21st January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Swire]

I pay tribute to that trust; anything that further improves education in Pakistan is manifestly a good thing from the UK perspective. If the hon. Lady would like to draw any problems with customs to my attention, I will ensure that officials look into them.

[Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

3. What recent progress has been made on securing a comprehensive agreement with Iran on its nuclear programme.

[Dr Phillip Lee (Bracknell) (Con)]

12. What recent progress has been made on securing a comprehensive agreement with Iran on its nuclear programme.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague)]

I welcome the entry into force yesterday of the Geneva joint plan of action. This agreement halts progress in Iran’s nuclear programme in return for proportionate sanctions relief, and will be implemented in parallel with the negotiations on a comprehensive agreement.

[Mr Baron]

There has been an encouraging start to these negotiations, so will the Foreign Secretary give his assessment of the wider possible implications of success for other challenges in the region, including Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, and for the prospect of a normalisation of diplomatic relations between the UK and Iran?

[Mr Hague]

Some encouragement should be taken, as my hon. Friend says, from the start of the negotiations and from yesterday’s agreement to begin implementing the interim deal. I must stress that a huge amount of work remains to be done to arrive at a comprehensive settlement of the nuclear issue. It will be formidably difficult to do so, but it must remain the main priority. It is too early to say whether that will be accompanied by wider changes in the foreign policy of Iran. In the meantime, we are working, step by step, on building up our bilateral relations, including two visits in recent weeks by our new chargé d’affaires.