CFI Honorary President Lord Polak and Labour peer Lord Turnberg have called on the UK to “stop treating Iran like an ally” and urged for an extension of the UN arms embargo on the country in a joint article published in the Jewish Chronicle today.
The peers underlined that “an opportunity now presents itself for Britain to demonstrate leadership and rally its allies” as the October deadline approaches for the UN arms embargo against Iran to expire.
The article pointed out that last week Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt voiced support for the embargo’s extension.
The peers added: “As the clock ticks down to the expiration of sanctions prohibiting trading in conventional arms, Iran has already started its plans to re-enter the arms market. It has not hidden its intentions and Russia and China stand at-the-ready to help them”.
Emphasising that the implications for the whole region and beyond are clear, the Lords stated that: “Iran’s destabilising behaviour in the Middle East and beyond is well-known. Reinforced, it will enhance its malign influence exponentially”.
“The UK was attacked when the IRGC Navy seized the British-flagged, Swedish-owned Stena Impero tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran was the likely culprit of a cyber-attack on the UK in 2017”, the peers said.
The article added that in the Middle East, “an emboldened Iran will radically ratchet up its arming of terrorist organisations” in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
On Britain’s responsibility, the peers underlined: “The UK’s global ambitions post Brexit must be met with actions that reflect our standing and core values. As a signatory to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a long-standing ally to states threatened by Iranian aggression and as a staunch defender of global human rights, the United Kingdom has the responsibility to act to prevent Iran from ramping up its weapons programme”.
They urged:”The UK should further call on Iran to sign up to the UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and other weapons trade conventions, as well as ensure UK exporters are not able to trade in arms or dual-use products with Iran under any circumstances”.
“As the UK reconsiders its international sanctions architecture in advance of exiting the EU, it must erect its own watertight programme preventing arms trade with Iran”, the peers said.
The article concluded: “The UK Government appears to be continuing to treat Iran as a friend in waiting, when its behaviour is more that of a menacing enemy poised for further action. The UK must spearhead international action to prevent Iran from further imperilling its neighbours and targets further afield, endangering UK allies and killing its own people”.
