Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss with his counterpart at the (a) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (b) Iranian government to assist the government of Iran in helping to halt the decline in the number of Asiatic cheetahs.

We are aware of the plight of Asiatic cheetahs in Iran and we welcome conservation efforts by Iran and the UN. My officials have held preliminary discussions with the Iranian Embassy in London on the issue.