In a letter to the Chair of the International Relations Committee, Baroness Anelay of St Johns, the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Rt. Hon. Dr Andrew Murrison MP, condemned the “catalogue of failures by Iran to respect international law, norms and practices”.
In his response to the Committee’s request for evidence on Iran and rising regional tensions, Dr Murrison confirmed that the Government is “confident that Iran bears responsibility for the 14th September attacks” in Saudi Arabia. He further emphasised that the Government is “clear eyed about Iran’s destabilising activities” and called for them to “come back in to full compliance with its own commitments” under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA).
The Middle East Minister also expressed his agreement with the International Relations Committee’s position that the UK should work at pace to ensure sustainability in the JCPoA once its time-limited provisions end.
This follows a Joint statement by the Heads of State and government of France, Germany and the United Kingdom last month that called for “Iran to accept negotiation on a long-term framework for its nuclear programme as well as on the issues related to regional security, including its missile programme and other means of delivery”.
Concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions amongst the international community have increased due to Tehran’s continued steps away from the JCPoA since July 2019 when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that the permitted 300kg cap of low enriched uranium (3.67%) had been exceeded. Just days later, Iran announced it had enriched uranium to 4.5% purity and had the ability to raise it to 20%, despite the JCPoA limit. Most recently, last week, the spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee announced plans to limit access for international inspectors to Iran’s nuclear sites.
