§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Government will instruct the Royal Navy to co-operate with the Iranian authorities to help recover the black box of the aircraft shot down by the United States to enable the flight path to be established beyond all reasonable doubt.
§ Mr. Ian StewartAny such request from the Iranian authorities would be carefully considered.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether ships of the Royal Navy have helped to recover bodies from the Iranian airliner shot down by the United States Navy.
§ Mr. Ian StewartNo Royal Navy ships were in the immediate vicinity and no requests for assistance were received from the Iranian authorities.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will ask the commanders of Her Majesty's ships operating in the Persian Gulf and the strait of Hormuz for their records of the flight path taken by the Iranian airbus on leaving Bandar Abbas airport, their interpretations of its movements and the identity that they gave to it; whether he intends to provide that information to the United States Government; and if he will publish it in theOfficial Report.
§ Mr. Ian StewartI refer the hon. Member to the reply which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave on 11 July, at column 4.