Middle East: Iran Conflict

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question of which I have given private notice. I draw attention to my interests in the register as an adviser to the Arab Ambassadors Council and organisations working on conflict resolution in the Middle East.

My Lords, the UK welcomes the agreement between the United States and Iran and commends all involved in securing this diplomatic breakthrough. Our priority now is to support the full implementation of the agreement and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without conditions or restrictions in line with international law. We stand ready to support the right of transit passage, including through a multinational military mission, which we will lead with France, which will be deployed when conditions allow. We will continue to work closely with our Gulf partners to support security and stability for the region.

My Lords, I am sure that the Minister and all noble Lords will join me in recognising the important role of Pakistan—bohat bohat shukria to Pakistan, and shukran to Qatar for their able support in getting to where we are. But the agreement is still to be signed on Friday, as we know, and we are all too familiar with the vulnerable nature of these agreements. In that respect, I note what the Minister has said, but can I push her further? When specifically will we deploy the minesweepers in which the UK and France have expertise? What additional support can we give in naval assets to our Gulf partners in support agreements such as C-SIPA? How can we extend this agreement to include Lebanon, given the long-standing support of the previous Government and the Government before that to the Lebanese armed forces, so that it can pursue a lasting and sustainable peace, including the disarming of Hezbollah?

These are great questions, and they are the exact questions we have been asking ourselves in the department. This is a framework agreement that we have at the moment. I echo what the noble Lord said: shukran to Pakistan for the role that it has played in bringing the US and Iran to this point. We need to see more detailed negotiations take place and we need to see a lasting ceasefire, so that we can do the work that needs to be done to enable safe passage through the strait. This will include, among other things, checking for mines and minesweeping. We have the necessary equipment to do that, jointly with others, and we are readying ourselves to do so. The noble Lord asked about Lebanon. It is vital that we see the ceasefire extend to Lebanon. As we discussed last week, the Government of Lebanon needs to be supported in order to fight Hezbollah. What has been happening has undermined the Government and reduced their capacity to do so.

My Lords, it is to be welcomed that the Strait of Hormuz is to be opened, but will the Minister confirm that this deal does not cover Iran’s ballistic missiles programme, nor its sponsorship of regional terrorist proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah, nor the terrorism it organises across the Middle East, here in Europe and even in the UK? It does not cover its internal repression, and, as I understand it, the Iranian regime says it is not going to give up its stockpiles of enriched uranium either. If all that is the case, how can this possibly be regarded as a foundation on which peace and stability can be built in the Middle East?

It is the deal that we have today. It is a framework and it is a start. It is better than we had previously and it is enabling, for now, a ceasefire. The challenge, as I think is alluded to by my noble friend, is that this is just the beginning and there are many things that need to be discussed and agreed upon in order for the ceasefire to have any durability. It is the long-standing position of this Government and our predecessor Governments that we do not wish to see Iran take forward any ambitions that it may have with regard to nuclear weaponry.

My Lords, it is a long way before we will know whether this will be a sustainable end to the conflict, as the Question asks, but if there is a welcome opening of the strait, will the Government work with other Governments to ensure that a priority for shipping will be those that have humanitarian cargo, especially food supplies for the World Food Programme, which is so desperately needed to be distributed but has been held up? If there is to be UK involvement, does the Minister agree that it should be underpinned by the United Nations? This should be multilateral, international law of the seas and should not be pegged to what could well be a fragile and transactional bilateral agreement between America and Iran?

We have been very clear that we want to see the strait opening. We want this to be free of condition and open for all passage, and that is a position that is shared widely. The noble Lord is absolutely right to remind us of the humanitarian needs at stake here. The impact of the closure is felt not just because supplies of fertiliser, food and other goods are being held, although that is certainly an issue, and not just by seafarers who have been held there for a long time, but because of the impact on long-term growth and access to those goods, particularly but not only for sub-Saharan Africa. Let us hope that the strait can be kept open, so that those goods can flow and those economies and those people can be supported.

My Lords, will the Minister clarify one point that I am slightly confused on? If the United States signs a deal in which ships will be paying a toll, is it the position of His Majesty’s Government and that of the French Government, I think, that they will be deploying forces to ensure that ships do not pay tolls?

I do not think anyone is talking about tolls or us patrolling in order to secure payment of tolls. I do not know where the noble Lord has got this from. That is not anything that anyone in the Government is seriously considering.

My Lords, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has led to some shortages in critical supply chains. I am particularly thinking of fertiliser, which is important for food production here and globally. Have the Government made any assessment of how long it will take, assuming that the current agreement actually holds, for the status quo and normal supplies to be reinstated?

That is really important. Even if the strait were to open immediately for goods to flow, there is already a scarring on many economies. We are particularly concerned about a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The impact will depend on planting seasons and agricultural practices, but it is likely that there is already going to be an impact on food security, in some way or another, in some countries.

My Lords—

My Lords—

It is the turn of the Labour Benches.

My Lords, will the Minister assure me that she and the Government, at the highest levels, intend to congratulate the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, on an awesome achievement, not just what is going to be signed on Friday but his long-term commitment to an enduring peace?

I am happy to assure my noble friend of that. Mr Sharif in Pakistan has done a good job and he deserves the commendation of all of us who wish to see the strait reopened.

My Lords, is it the case that part of this deal is going to see the release of tens of millions of dollars, which are currently blocked, back to the Iranian regime from the US and other places? If that is the case, does the Minister share my concern that, unless we watch carefully and work closely with our allies, some of that money could end up in places that we would rather it did not?

I am not aware that that is the case, so I am unable to confirm that. There is a great deal of speculation at the moment before the detail of this is worked through, and I would guard against that in this House. This is a framework. It is a beginning and it is an important step forward. There is now a ceasefire and there was not a ceasefire previously. That is why this is a positive development. As the noble Lord rightly alludes to, there are many issues yet to be resolved.

My Lords, the Minister has a busy life but she may remember that, at the beginning of this invasion, I asked her about C-SIPA, the treaty between Bahrain, the United Kingdom and the United States. I followed that up with a letter of detailed questions and I was promised a response, which I have yet to receive. Perhaps the Minister can answer now. Given that this is a treaty of mutual support, at what point does it become relevant and why has it not been relevant to date in keeping those waters clear?

I sincerely apologise to the noble Lord for the failure to respond to his letter. I will go back to the department and find out why it has not been replied to—that is most discourteous. I will make sure that the noble Lord gets his response promptly.

My Lords, after all the death and destruction that we have seen, do we not appear to be back at the Biden deal, and the same negotiations that were going forward must now restart afresh?

I have heard that argument and, frankly, we do not know at this stage what the final agreement will look like. As I said in responding to a question earlier, it is a framework at this point. It enables a ceasefire to take place, which is incredibly positive. However, we do not yet know the details of exactly what is going to be agreed.

My Lords, I agree with the Minister that this is a positive step, although we still need to see a lot of the detail. Can the Minister say whether, if the strait is fully reopened, that will enable the Government to bring forward the ban on imports of Russian diesel and jet fuel via third countries?

I encourage the noble Lord to attend the debate on an SI that we shall be discussing in about 20 minutes, where we will be dealing with the issue of products from Russia and Belarus that are refined in third countries and then imported into this country. In the future, that will no longer be the case.

My Lords, we would all agree that a toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz would be a great advantage for the world. Surely, strategically, Iran has demonstrated a capacity to close the strait, which will continue, and to hold the Gulf petrochemical areas at risk. Is it not therefore important that European and British diplomacy is involved in discussions with the Gulf countries to move on from what has been called a very fragile ceasefire to a more durable settlement in the region, which would mean that we would not have to live through this again?

The noble Lord has made an astute observation about exactly where we are in relation to where we were a few months ago. He is right to say that we must work closely with our Gulf partners and others to ensure that free passage through the strait is maintained and that this is a stable settlement. This is at an early stage, but the ambition that I think we all have is that the strait is opened. We do not want to find ourselves repeatedly with this level of disruption.

My Lords, bearing in mind the immense losses that this war has caused for the people in the region and for people around the world, especially the poorest, and for the global economy—on which the United Kingdom depends and for which British people will pay a price—what steps will the Government take to promote security co-operation among the countries in the Arabian/Persian Gulf and beyond to ensure that there are no further wars in the region and to uphold, once again, the universally recognised principle of the peaceful resolution of disputes?

We work through many different agencies, as the noble Baroness knows. Specifically on this issue, my honourable friend the Foreign Secretary has recently met 11 different Foreign Ministers to discuss this issue. The Prime Minister, along with President Macron in France, has convened 50-plus countries to make sure that there is a broad-based international coalition, specifically organised to secure long-lasting peace.

My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister agree that the United Kingdom Government are now able to play a far more positive part in relation to this issue than if they had followed the advice of the leader of the Opposition and supported the ill-advised invasion by Donald Trump?

I am proud of the decision that our Prime Minister made to ignore advice that he was given by the leader of the Opposition and others to involve this country in an ill-thought-out proposition. It was the right decision for the country, and it has enabled him to play the role he has now in contributing to keeping the strait open, clearing mines and deploying the equipment we have to secure safe passage for the ships that are contained there. We need to get the fertiliser, food and other goods moving.

My Lords, we must never forget that Iran holds innocent British citizens as political hostages in that country. I very much hope that, given increased stability in the region, the Foreign Office can work harder to release people such as the Foremans who have been unjustifiably detained and imprisoned in Iran.

Every time we hear of Craig and Lindsay and the ordeal they are suffering, we must remember that point. As much as we admire the strength and stoicism they show every time they are able to communicate, it is wrong that they are being held. It is not just Craig and Lindsay Foreman; there are many others held in Iran who should be released immediately.