Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle the oppression of women in (a) Iran, (b) Afghanistan and (c) other countries; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of working with his international counterparts to make such oppression a crime under international criminal law.

The UK is committed to supporting women in Iran by ensuring the Iranian regime is held to account. We do this in part through our sanctions. HMG has announced nine rounds of Iran human rights sanctions since October 2022. We also work closely with our international partners including to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2022. We raise human rights directly with the Iranian authorities at all appropriate opportunities, including through our Ambassador in Tehran.

In Afghanistan, the Government has repeatedly condemned the Taliban's decisions to restrict the rights of women and girls including through the UN Security Council, Human Rights Council resolutions and public statements. We continue to support the delivery of education, through bilateral and multilateral contributions.

More broadly, we are committed to strengthening the international architecture on accountability for gender-based crimes including by supporting a new convention on crimes against humanity through the UN, as announced by the Foreign Secretary in November 2022.