§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the latest assessment of Iran's capability to produce weapons of mass destruction. [163976]
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§ Mr. MacShaneWe continue to have concerns about Iran's work on uranium enrichment, which, under the agreement signed by Iran and the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom on 21 October 2003, Iran undertook to suspend. We welcome Iran's recent decision to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to have access to Iranian nuclear facilities, and hope that Iran will cooperate fully with them.
We judge that Iran also has the capability and the facilities to produce both chemical and biological weapons. Iran is a State Party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Upon accession to the CWC, Iran declared that it had produced chemical weapons in the past and that it had destroyed them.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on human rights in Iran, with reference to the recent election. [163977]
§ Mr. RammellOver the last 10 years Iran has made progress towards greater political freedom. But the flawed parliamentary elections held on 20 February were a clear setback.
On 23 February, EU Foreign Ministers expressed their deep regret and disappointment that large numbers of candidates, including many sitting deputies, had been prevented from standing, thus making impossible a genuine democratic choice by the Iranian people. For elections in any country to be regarded as free and fair, electors must have a chance to vote for candidates with a range of views.