Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what recent assessment they have
made of Iran’s capacity to project military power beyond its
borders.
The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (The ) (Con)
My Lords, the Ministry of Defence regularly makes assessments of
our adversaries’ ability to project military power beyond their
borders and how this may affect UK interests. We continue to
monitor developments in the Middle East, including Iran’s
destabilising actions in the region. The UK has long condemned
Iran’s reckless and dangerous activity in the Middle East. Iran’s
support to militant groups directly counters UK interests. The
Government are committed to working with international partners
to deter Iran’s destabilising activity, including by holding Iran
to account at the UN and maintaining our permanent defence
presence in the region.
(Lab)
My Lords, Iran arms—including by supplying Shahed drones—trains
and funds militias and political movements in at least six
countries: Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories,
Syria and Yemen. This is because it is a revisionist state
seeking to change the regional order. Possession of a nuclear
weapon would magnify its ability so to do. This would embolden
not only Iran but its proxies, which is why preventing that must
continue to be a foreign policy priority. What measures are we
taking with allies and regional partners to ensure that Iran is
not able to achieve nuclear weapon status? If we are to adopt a
more stringent policy to frustrate Iran’s objectives, deepening
engagement with regional partners will be critical. What is His
Majesty’s Government’s assessment of the state of our alliances
in the region? How are we seeking to enhance these relationships
and to bolster our partners’ resistance to Iran’s proxies?
The (Con)
The noble Lord makes a very thorough and important point. We
remain committed to a diplomatic solution and are prepared to use
all diplomatic options to prevent Iran developing a nuclear
weapon, including, if necessary, triggering the JCPOA snapback
mechanism, which allows for the rapid reimposition of UN
sanctions on Iran. Along with partners, including the US, France,
the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UK
is leading international efforts to deter Iran. This includes
keeping international focus on Iran to dissuade it from
proliferating, stopping the supply of weapons components into
Iran, and deterring potential purchasers of all Iranian weapons.
(Con)
Can my noble friend tell the House, given the very serious
situation in Iran, what capacity the United Kingdom has to
project military power beyond its borders? I refer particularly
to the failure of the two aircraft carriers, which we have spent
a fortune on and which seem to spend most of their lives in
Portsmouth.
(Lab)
Rubbish!
The (Con)
My Lords, as with all military activity, and particularly when
dealing with an organisation such as the Iranian Government,
international co-operation is absolutely critical. That must
remain the situation. Everybody is committed to striving to
achieve a diplomatic solution.
As far as the aircraft carriers are concerned, we have two. When
it was decided that it was not advisable for one to be sent to
Prosperity Guardian, the other managed to get going within eight
days, which is an extraordinary feat from its crew.
(CB)
My Lords, I am not exactly an admirer of the Iranian regime, but,
in the 21st century, should any country have the right to extend
its power beyond its borders? The United States, with 750 bases
in 50 countries, is not exactly a model democracy.
The (Con)
My Lords, surely the point is that the United States is a
democracy. Iran is not.
of Newnham (LD)
My Lords, in answering the initial Question of the noble Lord,
, the Minister
rightly pointed out that we have sanctions against Iran. But does
he believe those sanctions are working, given that the chief
commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard pointed out last
week that Iran now has unparalleled naval capabilities and the
ability to deal with military things from afar?
The (Con)
My Lords, this is an extremely good point. We can go only so far
with sanctions, due to all the reasons that your Lordships are
fully aware of and the fact that Iran has its allies, which are
not remotely interested in stopping—and in fact are
encouraging—its proliferation. We sanctioned the IRGC in its
entirety. We have sanctioned more than 400 Iranian individuals
and organisations to do with weapons proliferation, regional
conflicts, human rights violations, and terrorism. Since October
2022, we have sanctioned a further 56 IRGC-related organisations
and officials. So we are taking as much action as we can.
(Con)
My Lords, the point of the question of the noble Baroness, Lady
Smith, is that sanctions may not be working. Iran has been
subject, on and off, to quite stringent sanctions for some 40
years—yet it has developed state-of-the-art drones that are now
being used in Ukraine. What would my noble friend the Minister
see as turning up a notch beyond economic sanctions and looking
at ways of effectively deterring the ayatollahs?
The (Con)
I thank my noble friend for that question. The key is to keep
diplomatic channels open—it has to be. That is the only way this
will be resolved in the long term. On drone technology, we
introduced a new set of sanctions in December, and last month all
components and everything to do with drone technology were
included in these stringent sanctions.
(Lab)
My Lords, Iranian influence in the Middle East and further afield
is a destabilising presence, providing support for Hamas,
Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen, as well as Putin’s war in
Ukraine. What strategy is the UK developing with our allies in
the region to combat the malign activities of Iran and its
proxies, including efforts to interrupt their weapons supply
chains?
The (Con)
My Lords, the noble Baroness will know that we cannot go into any
great detail on this sort of thing. However, we have a permanent
presence in the area, as do our allies, and we maintain an
integrated international force to act as a deterrent. We also use
financial and other sanctions, disrupting supply chains for all
forms of activity.
Lord Swire (Con)
What is my noble friend the Minister’s current assessment of
those who are under threat, in this country, from Tehran directly
or through its proxies?
The (Con)
My Lords, we recently took action against a number of different
organisations which have been acting malignly within and against
this country. So this is certainly something that is very closely
watched.
(CB)
My Lords, in all probability we are entering a new, extended cold
war to counter a global balance of power. What comprehensive and
credible policy and deterrence against irregular warfare is being
established to deter proxy wars and to protect ourselves from
international terrorism, beyond the imperative to invest in
defence and engage more in international diplomacy? That last
point is one that the Minister has just made.
The (Con)
The noble Viscount has made the point for me. Diplomatic routes
must be kept open at all times, because that is what will solve
it. We have sufficient force in the area on an international
basis to provide the deterrent that is required. We are taking
action on any form of nuclear threat or proliferation, and the
sanctions that are in place are severely restricting, as much as
we can, the availability of equipment to that particular
Government. There are others, with whom they are working, who are
specifically working against us. This is something that we need
to focus on very seriously. As the Question from the noble Lord,
Lord Browne, rightly raises, it is one of the most serious
threats that the world—particularly the western world—is facing
today.
