HL Deb 30 June 2004 vol 663 cc264-6

3.16 p.m.

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I remind the House that I chair the British Committee for Iran Freedom.

The Question was as follows: To ask Her Majesty's Government, what is their response to the decision of the Iranian Government to revoke their pledge of October 2003 to freeze uranium enrichment work.

Baroness Crawley

My Lords, Her Majesty's Government are disturbed by Iran's announcement of its intention to resume the manufacture and assembly of centrifuges for uranium enrichment, and urge Iran to reverse its decision.

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her Answer. Is it not clear that the unelected leaders of the theocratic Iranian regime have deliberately lied to our Government and to other governments about their nuclear weapons programme, and that there is a gap wider than the Persian Gulf between what the mullahs say and what they actually do? Will the Government now ask the International Atomic Energy Agency to report Iran's defiance of its treaty obligations to the UN Security Council?

Baroness Crawley

My Lords, referral to the UN Security Council is always a mechanism available to the IAEA, but there are no plans to do so at present. I understand the strength of my noble friend's feeling on this important issue. However, I do not believe that the suggestion of referral is the best way forward. The process of constructive engagement with Iran has benefited the international community. We now have a much clearer idea of the extent of Iran's nuclear programme. It remains more appropriate to continue to engage with Iran in the context of the IAEA than to provoke a confrontation, when the prospects for action at the Security Council are unclear to say the least.

Lord Alton of Liverpool

My Lords, what light can the Minister shed on the recent reports that nuclear materials leaked at the new Tehran International Airport, that it was closed one day after the formal opening, and that those materials had been flown in from North Korea? Does she place any credibility on the statements by the Iranian authorities that there is no connection between the development of the domestic nuclear programme and the desire for nuclear weapons?

Baroness Crawley

My Lords, in answer to the first point. I understand that the new Tehran airport was closed within hours of its opening as a result of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps claiming that the involvement of western companies in the operation of the airport was a threat to national security. I am not aware of any basis for the report that the noble Lord has just given, but I will look into it and write to him.

On the issue of credibility, the noble Lord will know that the director-general of the IAEA, Mohamed El Baradei, said at the last board meeting that it is essential for the integrity and credibility of the inspection process that we are able to bring these issues to a close within the next few months.

Lord Avebury

My Lords, would the noble Baroness agree that Iran's decision to resume manufacturing centrifuge components and enriching uranium indicates that it is on the strategic path to developing a nuclear weapons capability, and that the threat by some Iranian leaders to denounce the non-proliferation treaty is confirmation of that intention? Would the noble Baroness not agree that while, obviously, constructive dialogue is better than confrontation, there comes a point when this matter is so serious that it is above Mr El Baradei's pay grade? If she is not willing to refer to the Security Council, does she have some other fallback plan in mind?

Baroness Crawley

My Lords, I do not agree that this decision shows that Iran is inevitably on the path to developing nuclear weapons. However, I very much agree with the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, that the decision of the Iranian Government to resume uranium enrichment activity sends out all the wrong signals to the international community, affecting its confidence. We want that decision reversed. While continuing our policy of constructive engagement, we fully support the highly critical resolution of the IAEA and Mr El Baradei.

Lord Hannay of Chiswick

My Lords, does not the Minister feel that if we are to get a satisfactory outcome to this very tangled tale, we will probably need more sticks and more carrots before we get through? Are the Government not thinking about both more sticks and more carrots? Does the Minister not agree that one of the problems is that the threshold of referral from the IAEA to the Security Council is too difficult to cross because it requires an actual breach of the non-proliferation treaty to be established? Would it not be far better if the Security Council could be brought in on these discussions in a less confrontational way?

Baroness Crawley

My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, will know, we are in a process with the IAEA in which Mr El Baradei wants to see action and to see the Iranians keep their side of the bargain in the next few months.

Lord Clarke of Hampstead

My Lords, the thought of the mullahs' regime having control of nuclear weapons is terrifying. Will my noble friend consider using constructive dialogue to address the question of the committee that has been established in tribute to the martyrs of the global Islamic movement? That committee has announced a martyrdom operation and claims that 10,000 have been recruited to take up suicide bomber places in various parts of the region. Does she agree that in our constructive dialogue with Iran we should raise such questions? It is not just a threat to Israel, which is the target of the martyrdom operation, but to the whole region.

Baroness Crawley

My Lords, I very much agree with my noble friend. We have long-standing concerns that Iran supports, for instance, Palestinian rejectionist and terrorist groups. We have made these concerns very clear to Iranian leaders.

Baroness Rawlings

My Lords, what progress has been made on setting a deadline date by which inspectors have to be satisfied before referring the case to the United Nations? What assessment have Her Majesty's Government made of the new conservative parliament in Iran, and its readiness, supposedly, to co-operate on the nuclear issue?

Baroness Crawley

My Lords, I think that I answered the noble Baroness's first question in an earlier answer. We believe that satisfactory progress towards the desired result is more important than establishing artificial deadlines. However, I quoted director-general El Baradei of the IAEA, when he said in his introductory statement to the last board meeting in June: It is essential for the integrity and credibility of the inspection process that we are able to bring these issues to a close within the next few months, and provide the international community with the assurances it urgently seeks regarding Iran's nuclear activities".