Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to Eurostat data showing a 38% reduction in annual UK pharmaceutical exports to Iran, what assessment he has made of the effect of US sanctions on (a) the ability of the UK pharmaceutical sector to support public health in Iran and (b) on public health outcomes in Iran.

​The Government regrets the US decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) nuclear deal and re-impose sanctions on Iran. Humanitarian goods are not subject to either US or EU sanctions. We are, nevertheless, working with our European partners on mechanisms to support continued trade in humanitarian goods, such as pharmaceutical exports. Following the re-imposition of US sanctions in November 2018 it is too early to make an assessment of the effect on public health outcomes in Iran.