Mark Hendrick
Main Page: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)Department Debates - View all Mark Hendrick's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(4 years, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Dominic Raab
There is widespread concern that Iran will take every opportunity, through its proxies and through local militias and other groups, to exert its influence and have a destabilising effect in order to pursue its own narrow national interest in a way that is deeply damaging for the international order and for regional stability. In relation to Libya, I would want to look very carefully at that, but I think there is a much broader, general threat that Iran is systematically posing.
Sir Mark Hendrick (Preston) (Lab/Co-op)
Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw unilaterally from the JCPOA last year and the additional sanctions have placed huge pressure on Iran, and there is much hardship in that country. The attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq oil refinery is totally unacceptable, but does the Foreign Secretary not accept that the cavalier approach of the US President is a contributing factor and that Donald Trump must work with the west to de-escalate this crisis?
Dominic Raab
The US President is working with the west. We saw that at the G7 in Biarritz, and we have seen it at the UN General Assembly. Both the French and American Presidents want a better deal than we have at the moment. We will continue to commit to the JCPOA, but we cannot kid ourselves that it is a perfect deal. It has its limitations and we should try to do better.