§ 2.45 p.m.
§ Lord GladwynMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Rolls-Royce engines recently sold to the Iranian Government are capable of insertion in any aircraft or vehicle, whether military or not, that might be of use to the Ayatollah Khomeini in the prosecution of his war against Iraq.
§ Lord LyellMy Lords, apart from static engines for power generation and pumping, the only engines which Rolls-Royce Limited have sold to Iran during the past two years have been two spare Dart Turboprops for Iranian Navy Fokker F27 communications aircraft and one spare civil Spey engine for a Fokker F28 airliner of Iran Asseman 972 Airlines. Neither engine is capable of insertion in any aircraft or vehicle capable of lethal use in the conflict with Iraq.
§ Lord GladwynMy Lords, do the Government maintain that the provision of these engines to Iran does not in any way help the Ayatollah Khomeini in the prosecution of his war against Iraq? Would they not admit that if by any chance the Ayatollah Khomeini won the war against Iraq and occupied Iraq the effect from our point of view would be totally disastrous?
§ Lord LyellMy Lords, I am afraid that the first part of the noble Lord's supplementary falls because, as I have pointed out, the three engines that were supplied are not capable of being of any use to Iran in their war with Iraq.
§ Lord Cledwyn of PenrhosMy Lords, can the noble Lord tell the House what is the dividing line between weapons which are classified as lethal and those which are non-lethal? For example, can he say whether spare parts for Rapier or Tiger Cat missiles are regarded as lethal, and have they been supplied to Iran? Thirdly, are Spey engines regarded as lethal and have they been sold to Iran for conversion in Phantom jets?
§ Lord LyellMy Lords, perhaps I can deal first with the noble Lord's question about Rapier. I have no knowledge of Tiger Cat missiles, but I can tell the noble Lord and your Lordships that no spares specific to Rapier have been supplied to Iran since the revolution. As to the noble Lord's question about what he described as the lethality of the military version or civil version of the Spey engine. I am able to tell the noble Lord that the civil Spey—which I mentioned is in use in the F. 28—is substantially different from the re-heated Spey which powers Royal Air Force Phantoms, and it could not be adapted to power a Phantom. I stress that the thrust of a Mark 201/202/203 Spey engine, as fitted to the Phantoms, is 20,250 pounds. The corresponding thrust of the 555/15 Spey—the civil Spey—which was sent for the F.28, is 9,852 pounds. I could go on because there are different technical specifications. I would firmly add that the weight of the civil Spey is one-sixth that of the military Spey. So I am sure that 'our Lordships will see that the military Spey is completely different from the Spey fitted to the F.28