§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the sale by Yarrow Shipbuilders of two military supply ships to the Government of Iran.
§ Mr. LuceThese ships are unarmed support vessels. The contract for them was originally place with Yarrow Shipbuilders by the previous Iranian Government before the revolution. Work on them continues in the Yarrow shipyards.
§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he received any representations from the United States Government about the possible sale of two military supply ships to the Government of Iran.
§ Mr. LuceWe remain in close contact with the United States Government, and with other friendly countries, over all aspects of the Gulf situation. The United States Government are aware of our position on the two unarmed support ships on which Yarrow Shipbuilders is working as the result of a contract originally placed before the revolution in Iran.
§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the term, non-lethal equipment, in relation to arms supplies to Iran, covers military supply ships designed and commissioned to carry tanks, troops and guns.
§ Mr. LuceApplications to export defence equipment to either side in the Iran/Iraq conflict are scrutinised with the utmost care, taking full account of the extent to which they might exacerbate the conflict.
There is no absolute definition of what constitutes lethal or non-lethal equipment, but in judging whether or not to permit supply ships to be exported we should take into account what they were designed to carry, whether they were to be armed or not, and whether they were likely to be engaged in the conflict.