§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria he uses in deciding whether parts supplied to either side in the Iran/ Iraq war under existing contracts are lethal equipment for the purposes of the guidelines set out in his answer of 29 October 1985, Official Report, column 450.
§ Mr. RentonAll applications for export licences are of course looked at in the light of our current policy on exports to Iran and Iraq. If there were any doubt over whether equipment under a contracts signed before the 551W introduction of the current Guidelines in December 1984 was lethal or not, a judgement would be made as to whether such equipment would significantly enhance the capability of the recipient to prolong or exacerbate the conflict. Indeed it was precisely because of such definitional problems that the current policy was introduced in 1984.