§ Mr. Stephen TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of assassinations of Christian leaders in Iran in the past five years. [130773]
§ Mr. HainNone, however I refer my hon. Friend to my answer today to his question UIN 130772,Official Report column 269W.
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage religious tolerance in Iran. [130771]
§ Mr. HainHuman Rights are a high priority in our dealings with the Iranian Government. We and our EU partners take every appropriate opportunity to press the Iranian authorities over our concerns about their treatment of religious minorities in Iran, particularly the Bahai and Jewish communities. The Iranian authorities are well aware that we and our EU partners view persecution on religious grounds as totally unacceptable.
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received concerning religious liberty in Iran. [130792]
§ Mr. HainWe receive reports from a number of sources on a wide range of human rights issues in Iran including religious liberty. These sources include among others our Embassy in Tehran, the UK and Iranian media, Amnesty International and the United Nations Commission of Human Rights Special Representative's annual reports. Most of these sources recognise that there have been a number of improvements in Iran since the election of President Khatami in 1997, but that a number of concerns remain. Our policy of engagement allows us to raise our concerns with the Iranian authorities.
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received concerning the activities of the Ministry of Islamic Guidance in Iran. [130790]
§ Mr. HainOur Embassy in Tehran has reported that the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance is responsible for issuing licences and control of all printed material, music, film and other cultural and touristic activities. It also has responsibility for maintaining religious standards.
269W
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Iranian authorities concerning the assassination of Christian pastors. [130772]
§ Mr. HainThere have recently been a number of calls in Iran for further investigation into the appalling killings of four Christian clerics in 1994. We and our EU partners continue to hope that those responsible for these crimes will be brought to justice.
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Iranian authorities concerning(a) equality of access to education for all religions,(b) freedom of the press and (c) the death sentence for apostasy. [130791]
§ Mr. Hain(a) and (c) are most relevant in the context of Iranian treatment of the Baha'i community. We and our EU partners regularly raise our concerns about Iranian treatment of the Baha'is. We do so bilaterally through our Embassy in Tehran, and the Iranian Ambassador to London. We also do so multilaterally through the twice yearly UN resolutions on Human Rights in Iran, which we sponsor in conjunction with our EU partners, the most recent of which was adopted in April.
We also raise our concerns through the EU/Iran dialogue. On (b), at the last meeting in Tehran in June, the EU presidency, on behalf of all EU partners, pressed the Iranian authorities over our concern about the recent suppression of freedom of the press in Iran.