Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to secure the release of Mr Anoosheh Ashoori.

The Government remains extremely concerned about the welfare of British-Iranian dual nationals detained in Iran, including Anoosheh Ashoori. Iran does not recognise dual nationality and therefore does not permit access to British-Iranian detainees. We are committed to ensuring that we do everything we can, including continuing to press the Iranian authorities for consular access. The Prime Minister raised his concerns about dual national detentions with President Rouhani on 24 September, and the Foreign Secretary did so with Foreign Minister Zarif on 17 September. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon hosted an event at the UN General Assembly on 25 September to call out the failings of the Iranian judiciary. I raised the issue in Tehran with my Iranian counterparts in June.