More than 80 Conservative parliamentarians have today written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson with concerns over the upcoming expiration of the United Nations arms embargo on Iran and expressing “regret” at the UK Government’s failure to support efforts to extend it, in a letter coordinated by the Conservative Friends of Israel.
The parliamentarians, including Chairmen of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and the Defence Select Committee and a series of former Cabinet members, seek assurances on UK Government policy towards Iran.
The Conservative parliamentarians state that there is an “urgent need for our Government to unambiguously articulate the UK’s policy towards Iran and its encouragement of violence in and beyond the Middle East”. They argue that the “regrettable” UK decision to not support a recent U.S. effort to extend the arms embargo will lead to the “influx of Russian or Chinese advanced weaponry” into the region and poses a “direct threat to our allies and UK interests worldwide”.
The letter calls for the Prime Minister to address seven questions relating to UK Government policy on Iran, including clarification on possible UK sanctions in response to continued Iranian non-compliance with the JCPOA nuclear deal and a call for the UK to consider proscribing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror organisation.
See below for the letter and full list of 84 signatories.
