§ Viscount WaverleyMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In so doing I state that I am chairman of the British-Iranian Chamber of Commerce.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will relax the visa regime for Iran to accommodate the business community; and, if so, when.
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn)My Lords, all Iranian nationals, including those in the business community, are required to obtain a visa in order to travel to or through the United Kingdom or any other member state of the European Union. There are no plans to remove this requirement.
§ Viscount WaverleyMy Lords, is the Minister aware that the business community is being severely hampered by the length of time taken to process individual inward visas, which on occasion can take up to three months to process? Does he agree that with that approach the recent rapprochement will never develop? Will the Minister consider bringing together his officials in the Home Office, who I suspect are the principal culprits, and their counterparts in the Foreign Office to determine how this process can be reduced to a maximum of two weeks?
§ Lord Williams of MostynMy Lords, the principal culprits are not the Home Office officials, who can never be subject to a legitimate accusation of that kind. There is regrettably a delay in respect of business visitors. We need more staff at our embassy in Tehran. That embassy is waiting for two relief members of staff. What are they waiting for? They are waiting to be issued with visas by the Iranian authorities.
§ Baroness Nicholson of WinterbourneMy Lords, as chairman of the All-Party Iran Group, may I ask the noble Lord whether he can reassure the House that, while allowing a good flow of businessmen in both directions, entry clearance officers will nonetheless keep a very close eye on possible Iranian terrorists, such as those from the National Council for Resistance of Iran and other organisations, who are quite worrying people?
§ Lord Williams of MostynMy Lords, I can give that reassurance. One of the central purposes of a visa regime is to ensure that our proper national security interests are keenly attended to. I repeat that we take our duties very seriously in that regard.