Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the nuclear agreement with Iran, what plans they have for securing European interests in Iran.

Since President Rouhani’s election in 2013, we have been exploring the scope for improving our bilateral relations with Iran, on a step by step basis. Last week’s nuclear agreement between the E3+3 and Iran offers the potential to take this further. It is a robust and verifiable deal which addresses our, and the EU’s, proliferation concerns. When Iran has implemented its commitments under the deal, the international community will lift some of its sanctions, delivering significant economic and financial benefits, and offering the potential to expand trade and investment between the EU and Iran. The UK and other EU partners continue to have other serious concerns about Iranian policy, for example its approach to terrorism and respect for human rights; these are unchanged with the deal.