Select committee: Foreign Affairs Committee
Conclusion 60
Fifth report: No prosperity without justice: the UK’s relationship with Iran
Published 16 Dec 2020
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Foreign Affairs Committee The UK and Iran All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Witnesses involved with some of the higher-profile detentions of UK and dual nationals by Iran were keen to highlight the benefits which might be gained in defining the term. Charlie Loudon from REDRESS, which has acted on behalf of Nazanin Zaghari- Ratcliffe since 2016, commented on the issue of ‘State Hostage Taking’: The US has been successful in securing releases despite having a particularly poor relationship with Iran. The US has a stronger legal framework, having recently enacted the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage- Taking Accountability Act, which empowers the federal government to challenge hostage taking of its nationals. The US also has more targeted leadership structures to tackle this issue, including a Special Presidential Envoy on Hostage Affairs and a Hostage Fusion Cell for coordinating across government sectors. The UK does not currently have such structures. The US government has also been willing to use the term ‘hostage taking’. This is in contrast to the UK, which strictly refers to and treats state held hostages as regular ‘consular cases.’139
From: Foreign Affairs Committee, Fifth report: No prosperity without justice: the UK’s relationship with Iran (HC 415), 16 December 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 26 February 2021 (deadline 16 February 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes several of the Committee's conclusions and sets out a position built on "engagement, pressure, and incentives", while noting rather than adopting a number of specific recommendations.
- On the nuclear deal, it agrees it would not be in the UK's interests to terminate the JCPoA "without a viable replacement", and says it will work with E3 partners and the new US Administration. It notes the recommendations on ballistic missiles, sunset clauses and IAEA cooperation.
- It states that it "has never said that its long-term goal is to 'replace' the JCPoA", while agreeing that consultation across the Middle East region will be critical.
- On proscribing the IRGC, it takes "careful note" of the recommendation. It says the IRGC is subject to UK sanctions, and that it is "longstanding Government policy not to comment" on whether an organisation is under consideration for proscription.
- On a Foreign Secretary statement on a JCPoA replacement, it says only that the Foreign Secretary "will update the House when it is appropriate to do so". It notes the proposal for a UN hostage-taking convention addition without committing to it.