§ 21. Mr. Stephen TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Government of Iran on the funding of Hezbullah and Hamas. [112889]
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§ Mr. HainThis Government and our EU colleagues have frequently raised with the Iranians our concerns about their support for groups who use violent methods to oppose the Middle East Peace Process and will continue to do so.
§ Mrs. EllmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last made representations to the Government of Iran on the situation of the 13 Jews arrested on charges of espionage. [112935]
§ Mr. HainThe continued detention on espionage charges of a number of Iranians including members of the Iranian Jewish community is a matter of great concern to us. We and our EU partners have repeatedly stressed to the Iranian authorities the importance we attach to this issue. We have also stressed our belief that those detained should either be released or be granted a speedy, fair and open trial.
The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary both raised this issue with the Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Kharrazi during his visit in January. They pressed for the release of all those detained or for their early trial. Since then three of the detainees have been released on bail and a trial date of 13 April announced. Dr. Kharrazi said that those detained would receive a fair trial with access to lawyers and their families.
I raised this issue with Deputy Foreign Minister Sarmadi when we met on 7 March.