Iran-Pakistan (Nuclear Co-operation) (Hansard, 11 July 1988)

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications for nuclear non-proliferation of nuclear co-operation between Iran and Pakistan.

§ Mr. Mellor
As a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty Iran is bound to accept full scope safeguards on all her nuclear facilities. We have no conclusive evidence of any nuclear co-operation between Iran and Pakistan.

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy on the proposals made by Mr. Shevardnadze to the United Nations general assembly session on disarmament in June for(a) an exchange of data on levels of troops and equipment, (b) cutbacks by each side of half a million troops and (c) the reformation of remaining forces to give them a purely defensive character; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Mellor
In so far as the remarks in Mr. Shevardnadze's speech recognise the need for on-site verification to accompany data exchanges and for asymmetries to be eliminated as a precondition for mutual force reductions, they are welcome. They represent a movement towards the approach to conventional arms control of allied countries, whose forces are already configured for purely defensive purposes. But they need to be translated into appropriate action by Soviet arms control negotiators.

§ Mr. Andrew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken, in view of his support for the ballistic missile treaty, to urge upon both the United States and the Soviet Governments the desirability of holding the anti-ballistic missile review conference within the due period, and of using the occasion to renew their mutual commitment to the treaty.

§ Mr. Mellor
The 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty is a bilateral agreement between the United States and the 75W Soviet Union. It is for the parties to the treaty to determine their rights and obligations under it, including the timing and content of review conferences.

§ Mr. Andrew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to the other arrangements for the third review conference on the anti-ballistic missile treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union have been made; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Mellor
It is for the parties to the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty to decide on arrangements for the third review conference and to make them public when appropriate. The Government will follow developments with keen interest.