§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will list the United Nations Security Council resolutions still extant and operating which call for a ceasefire in the war between Iran and Iraq, indicating in each case how the United Kingdom representative voted.
§ Mr. LuceFour United Nations Security Council resolutions have called for a ceasefire in the conflict between Iran and Iraq: Numbers 479 of 28 September 125W 1980; 514 of 12 July 1982; 522 of 4 October and 540 of 31 October 1983. In addition, resolution 552 of 1 June 1984 called for a cessation of attacks on shipping. the United Kingdom voted for all these resolutions, which are still operative.
§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government have called for an arms embargo in respect of the belligerent powers in the Gulf war, by promoting a resolution to that effect in the Security Council of the United Nations Organisation; and whether he will make a statement on his policy in this matter.
§ Mr. LuceThe United Kingdom is impartial in the Gulf conflict and supplies no items of defence equipment to either side which might significantly prolong or exacerbate the conflict. We do not believe an arms embargo would be an effective method of ending this conflict, although we would welcome it if other countries followed our own very restrictive policy; national defence sales policies remain a matter for the individual countries concerned.