Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of recent reports of a large explosion at Parchin military complex in Iran.

As reported in the media, there was an explosion and consequent fire at the Parchin military complex, outside of Tehran in early October 2014. The explosion was not in the area of the high explosive test facility at Parchin referred to in IAEA Board of Governors’ reports. Permission for IAEA inspectors to access facilities at Parchin as required remains necessary to address international concerns about the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear programme.