Iran (Hansard, 27 April 1999)

§ Mr. Donald Anderson
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects diplomatic representation with Iran to be raised to the level of ambassador. [82216]

§ Mr. Fatchett
The exchange of ambassadors with Iran was part of the agreement between the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and his Iranian counterpart Dr. Kharrazi in New York last September. We remain committed to this and expect that the exchange will take place in the next few weeks.

§ Mr. Öpik
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to continue to make representations to the Iranian Government on the position of followers of the Baha'i faith currently living in Iran; and if he will make a statement [82155]
94W

§ Mr. Fatchett
We and our EU partners have regularly raised with the Iranian authorities our concerns over certain aspects of their human rights record, and in particular the plight of the Baha'i community in Iran.
An EU sponsored resolution at the recent United Nations Commission on Human Rights, including firm language on the plight of the Baha'is, was adopted on 23 April.
We will continue to raise these matters with the Iranian Government in bilateral and EU contracts.