Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of China’s provision of face-recognition technology to Iran and its impact on human rights in that country.

Women in Iran are reporting greater enforcement of Iran's strict hijab and morality laws by automated recognition technology. We continue to track reports of a Chinese company providing Iran with face-recognition technology, which could be used to violate human rights. The UK is committed to holding Iran to account and calling out Iran's human rights violations in a range of multilateral fora. The UK raised Iran at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution on Iran human rights, supported the creation of a UN Fact Finding Mission and helped ensure Iran's removal from the UN Commission on the Status of Women.