§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement concerning the British journalist Roger Cooper, who has been in Evin prison, Iran, without charge for the past year.
§ Mr. EggarMr. Roger Cooper was arrested on 7 December 1985. British consular officials in Tehran have not been allowed consular access, apart from one brief occasion on 2 August 1986 when the consul was permitted to see Mr. Cooper through a glass screen.
Both we and the Swedish ambassador in Tehran have continued to press the Iranians to grant consular access as they are obliged to do as a signatory of the Vienna convention on consular relations.
We have not yet been informed of the details of any formal charges against Mr. Cooper.