§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which countries presently do not have a United Kingdom embassy; what is the reason for the absence; and what steps are being taken to establish an embassy in each case.
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§ Mrs. Chalker[pursuant to the reply, 27 April 1989 c. 595]: Of those territories recognised by the United Kingdom as independent sovereign states, the United Kingdom does not have an embassy, a high commission, or a consulate-general accredited to the following:
- Albania
- Argentina
- Bhutan
- Cambodia
- Iran
- Libya
- Syria
The United Kingdom does not have diplomatic relations with Albania or Cambodia.
The United Kingdom does not have diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Bhutan but maintains friendly contacts and conducts official business with its embassy in New Delhi.
Iran broke diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom in March this year. British interests are represented by the Swedish embassy in Tehran, where there are no United Kingdom staff.
There are British interest sections with United Kingdom staff in the embassies of protecting powers in Argentina, Libya and Syria.
The staff of the British embassy in Afghanistan have been withdrawn for security reasons.
There are no plans at present to establish additional representative offices.