§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the Government's reaction to the illegal action taken against British shipping in the Gulf war in recent weeks.
§ Mr. RentonThe United Kingdom upholds the general principle of freedom of navigation on the high seas. However, under article 51 of the United Nations charter a state such as Iran, actively engaged in an armed conflict, is entitled in exercise of its inherent right of self-defence, to stop and search a foreign merchant ship on the high seas if there is reasonable ground for suspecting that the ship is taking arms to the other side for use in the conflict. This is an exceptional right: if the suspicions prove to be unfounded and if the ship has not committed acts calculated to give rise to suspicion, then the ship's owners have a good claim for compensation for loss caused by the delay.
Our representatives in Tehran are in touch with the Iranian authorities as to why the British registered vessel Barber Perseus was stopped for a check of the ship's manifest on 12 January.