Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of Iran's nuclear capabilities.

It is the longstanding policy of successive British Governments that we do not comment on intelligence matters. The UK Government closely follows the security situation in the Middle East and maintains a regular dialogue with international counterparts on this. Iran's escalation of its nuclear activities is threatening international peace and security and undermining the global non-proliferation system. A viable deal was put on the table in March and again in August 2022 which would have returned Iran to compliance with its Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) commitments and returned the US to the deal. Iran refused to seize a critical diplomatic opportunity to conclude the deal with continued demands beyond the scope of the JCPoA. Iran's actions over the past months have made progress towards a diplomatic solution much more difficult. We are considering next steps with our international partners.