Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on recent comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be denied access to Iran's military facilities and nuclear officials under a nuclear deal; and what assessment he has made of the effect such a stance by Iran would have in the IAEA's ability to verify that country's adherence to a permanent nuclear deal.

We are aware of recent media reports of the Supreme Leader’s comments. A comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran that addresses our proliferation concerns will need to be fully verifiable by the International Atomic Energy Agency. This must include robust monitoring of Iran’s nuclear activities, and its implementation of the Additional Protocol, in order to reassure the international community that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful.