G7

Rehman Chishti Excerpts

Monday 11th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The specific examples given by the hon. Gentleman were not raised, but the overall issue of the prevention of sexual violence in conflict was referred to in the meeting between the G7 leaders and the Gender Equality Advisory Council, which was set up by Prime Minister Trudeau. I was also able, within that, to talk about the issues of human trafficking and modern slavery, particularly modern slavery for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

[Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con)]

Paragraph 20 of the communiqué states:

“We…call upon Iran to play a constructive role”

for

“peace in the region.”

The same statement was made at the 2015 G7. Iran has continuously displayed aggressive behaviour in the region, and Morocco has now expelled its ambassador. The Prime Minister has spoken of appropriate action and has said that “some action” will be taken to stop Iran’s destabilising activity. What does she mean by “some action”, and what is her timeline for taking that action?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: paragraph 20 of the communiqué does refer to Iran. It also states:

“we call upon Iran to refrain from launches of ballistic missiles and all other activities… inconsistent with UNSCR 2231—including all annexes”.

That, of course, refers to the joint comprehensive plan of action. We also—as my hon. Friend said—call on Iran to

“cease proliferation of missile technology”

and action it is taking that is

“destabilising for the region”.

We will work with our European allies and others on a wide variety of issues relating to Iran, and we will make every effort to bring Iran to a situation in which it is not interfering in other states in the way that we know it is at the moment.