GS 72: Letter to the Committee Specialist from the Parliamentary Relations Team, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

 

The Committee requested more information on the recent E3+3 offer and letter to Iran. The Foreign Secretary chaired a meeting of E3+3 Foreign Ministers (with China represented by Political Director He Yafei) and EU High Representative Javier Solana in London on 2 May to finalise a refreshed engagement package. Javier Solana and five E3+3 Political Directors (minus the US) visited Tehran on 14 June to deliver this generous package. I attach a copy of both the letter and offer for your information.

 

The delegation met Foreign Minister Mottaki and nuclear negotiator Jalili in Tehran. The delegation had three main objectives for their visit. Firstly, the visit underlined the E3+3's joint determination to solve the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic means. Secondly, the delegation wished to stimulate debate within Iran about the regime's handling of the nuclear file. We published the letter and offer in English and Farsi immediately after their delivery to the Iranian Government, and our Embassy tell us that many newspapers carried the full texts, and there has since been debate in the media. The last objective was to demonstrate to the international community that the E3+3 is genuinely committed to both the engagement and pressure tracks of the dual-track strategy.

 

We are currently waiting for the Iranian response. We very much hope that Iran will engage rapidly, but if not we will be pressing for further sanctions, in line with the E3+3's dual-track approach of pressure and engagement. If we do not receive a positive response from the Iranians by mid-July, we will start work on a further UN sanctions resolution.

 

The committee also asked for information on the UK and EU policies towards the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MeK) following the Court of Appeal judgment of 7 May 2008. The Home Secretary laid an order to remove the MeK from the list of proscribed organisations on 21 May. The order was debated in both Houses on 23 June and came into effect on 24 June. The Home Office has complied with the judgments of both the Proscribed Organisations Appeals Commission and the Court of Appeal.

 

The MeK is also included in the list of terrorist organisations subject to an EU-wide asset freeze. Decisions on the inclusion of organisations on this list are made by the EU Council by unanimity. We have discussed the Court of Appeal's judgment and UK deproscription with EU partners. Any decision on the inclusion of the MeK on this list will be made by consensus by all EU Member States and will, I am sure, take fully into account the UK Parliamentary process.

 

Although we respect the Court of Appeal's judgment and have acted on its instructions, we remain of the view that the MeK is not a credible opposition group. We have seen no evidence that they have popular support within Iran and have no plans to meet them or the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

 

The Committee requested further information about the arrests of leading members of Iran's Baha'i community in Iran. Six members of the informal group that co-ordinates Baha'i activities in Iran (Mrs Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr Afif Naeimi, Mr Saeid Rezaie, Mr Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr Vahid Tizfah) were arrested on 14 May, and their homes searched extensively by Ministry of Intelligence officers. The seventh member of the group, Mrs Mahvash Sabet, was detained in Mashhad on 5 March. The group are understood to be held in Evin Prison in Tehran.

 

The Baha'i faith is not recognised by the Iranian Constitution and Baha'is routinely face discrimination and harassment, including arbitrary arrests. This is not the first time that the leadership of the Baha'i community has been targeted, and formal Baha'i administrative bodies have been banned since the early 1980s. The Iranian authorities claim that the seven are being held for actions "against national interest" and security charges - possibly in connection to an explosion in Shiraz in April. We are concerned that they have been detained on account of their religious beliefs in an attempt to further disrupt and restrict the activities of the Baha'i community in Iran. We are also concerned by the increasing use of national security legislation, including charges such as "propaganda against the system" and "acting against national security", as a means to pressurise human rights defenders and clampdown on any criticism of the regime.

 

As the Committee is aware, we remain deeply concerned by the Iranian government's refusal to respect the basic rights of its citizens, including religious freedoms. We have broad concerns about treatment of the Baha'i community, which we raise often in our bilateral contacts with the Iranian authorities and through EU demarches and statements. On receiving news of these arrests, we immediately recommended that the EU issue a public statement of concern. On 21 May, the EU issued a public declaration which called on the Islamic Republic of Iran to "uphold fully the right to adopt and practise a religion of choice, to end the persecution of the Baha'i community, and to release the detained individuals". And at the June session of the Human Rights Council, in statements about situations of specific concern, both the UK and the EU referred to the Baha'is detained in Iran and called for their release.

 

There has been significant interest in both Houses on this issue. We are maintaining our already close contacts with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the UK, who are keeping us appraised of the situation, and will continue to raise this with the Iranian authorities.

 

In the Committee's report on Global Security: Iran, it requested analysis of the support originating within Iran for Iraqi insurgents and also for Taliban insurgents. We will shortly be writing to the Committee on both of these issues.

 

 

4 July 2008