§ Mr. Williamsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, in view of the fact that a visa granted in London on 17 October has still not been notified to the applicant in Iran, he will take steps to improve the present arrangements with the British interest section at the Swedish embassy in Iran.
§ Mr. WhitneyAuthority for this visa was granted by the Home Office on 17 October and received by the British interests section of the royal Swedish embassy in Tehran on the same day. The interests section then made repeated efforts to inform the applicant, but without success until contact was finally established on 24 November when arrangements were made, at the applicant's request, for the visa to be collected on Sunday 27 November.
The interests section has only a limited number of staff and its visa section is under extreme pressure. We are, however, considering whether there is any scope for improvements in the present restricted service.