Select committee: Foreign Affairs Committee
Conclusion 30
Sixth Report - Stolen years: combatting state hostage diplomacy
Published 4 Apr 2023
Paragraph 88
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Foreign Affairs Committee The FCDO’s approach to state level hostage situations All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Government took longer to repay the IMS Debt than it needed to and the eventual circumstances under which it was paid were unsatisfactory. We conclude that the only factors which changed and therefore allowed repayment in March 2022 were the interpretation of the terms of the sanctions, and the political will to risk upsetting the US Administration. It would appear, from the limited information available, that the Government has no way of ensuring Iran abides by the conditions governing the spending of UK taxpayers’ money, nor is there any avenue for parliamentary scrutiny.
From: Foreign Affairs Committee, Sixth Report - Stolen years: combatting state hostage diplomacy (HC 166), paragraph 88, 4 April 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 6 July 2023 (deadline 4 June 2023).