§ 9. Mr. Eric Illsley (Barnsley, Central)What further discussions he has had with the Iranian Government about Iran's nuclear capacity since his visit there. [137404]
§ The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Jack Straw)I discussed a range of issues of mutual interest with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharrazi, on 4 November, including the agreement that the three European Union Foreign Ministers had reached with the Government of Iran on 21 October. The next stage in the process, which we all hope will lead to full compliance by Iran with its obligations, follows the publication of the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency yesterday and its consideration by the IAEA board on 20 November.
§ Mr. IllsleyI am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that response and I congratulate him on his successful visit to Iran with his two European counterparts. Can he confirm that Iran will abide by the agreement that he and his counterparts reached while they were in Iran, and stop the enrichment of uranium?
§ Mr. StrawI am grateful to my hon. Friend for those remarks. Whether Iran has finally decided to abide by its obligations is a matter that will be considered in the light of the IAEA report, which became available only yesterday. It raises some serious issues, which we are studying. I am glad to note that yesterday the Iranian Government informed the director general of the IAEA that they had decided to suspend, with effect from yesterday, all reprocessing and enrichment-related activities in Iran. Specifically, they had decided to suspend all activities on the Natanz site; not to produce feed material for enrichment processes; and not to import enrichment-related items—an undertaking that we had sought and which the Iranian Government had given in the agreement reached on 21 October. I am glad also that the Government of Iran have made what appears to be a much fuller disclosure than they have ever made before. We all now have to analyse it and will reach decisions—I hope—on 20 November.
§ Mr. Hugo Swire (East Devon)While I do not wish to denigrate the good work being carried out by Mohamed el-Baradei and his colleagues at the IAEA, some worrying questions remain unresolved—not least the Iranian definition of enriching uranium, which is too narrow. What progress is being made in tracing the country that originally supplied Iran with the equipment that has enabled it to produce highly enriched uranium? Once that country is identified, what action will be taken against it?
§ Mr. StrawOn the latter point, great effort is being made to identify the country concerned and appropriate action will be taken, according to the nature of the information that we have and its provenance. On the first point, everyone accepts that there have been worrying questions about Iran's previous nuclear-related activities. Dr. el-Baradei has been worrying about that, which is why he has been so involved—alongside the rest of us—in hoping to secure a full and complete disclosure in respect of past activities, as well as for future obligations.
§ Llew Smith (Blaenau Gwent)While I support the Government's attempts to get Iran to abide by the non-proliferation treaty, will my right hon. Friend inform the House what this country and the Government are 164 doing to ensure that we too abide by the non-proliferation treaty, to which we are a signatory, and in particular in relation to article 6, under which we are committed to negotiate away in good faith our nuclear weapons of mass destruction?
§ Mr. StrawAs my hon. Friend knows, we are a signatory of the non-proliferation treaty, but as one of the permanent five members of the Security Council, for historical reasons that the House understands, we are in a special category within the treaty as a nuclear weapon state. However, we fully acknowledge our obligations under article 6 and all the other articles. Indeed, the UK is further ahead in implementing its obligations under article 6, and the other articles, than almost any other country in a comparable position.
§ Mr. Gary Streeter (South-West Devon)May I say on behalf of the Opposition that we welcome the Foreign Secretary's recent visit to Iran and the Government's constructive engagement with this important issue? But at a time when the negotiations between the international community and the IAEA and the Iranian Government over their nuclear capacity are so delicately poised, how helpful does the Foreign Secretary think that it was for the Prime Minister recently to describe Iran as a rogue repressive state? Is not this a time for clear-headed statesmanship rather than headline-seeking megaphone diplomacy?
§ Mr. StrawI think that congratulations to the hon. Gentleman are in order, and I am happy to offer them.
If the hon. Gentleman reads the Prime Minister's remarks, he will clearly see that he was referring to Iraq, and that he made a separate point about Iran.