Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Theresa Villiers (Conservative). It was answered on Monday, 17 October 2005 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq

Question: Over the past few weeks the Government have given conflicting signals about whether any of the weapons being used by Iraqi insurgents originated in Iran. Has the right hon. Gentleman seen evidence that any weapons being used by Iraqi insurgents were designed or manufactured in Iran? If so, what protest is he making to the Iranian Government about the involvement of their country in Iraq?

Answer: I am not sure that I accept the hon. Lady's premise that there have been conflicting signals. The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and I have all said the same thing, and I am glad that the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, publicly declared last night that she accepted what we were saying. The Prime Minister confirmed last week that new explosive devices have been used not only against British troops, but elsewhere in Iraq. The nature of those devices leads us either to Iranian elements or to Hezbollah. At this time, however, we cannot be certain of the precise destination to which that would take us. We continue to investigate the matter, but in the meantime we have made plain our views to the Iranian Government. We have presented evidence to the Iranians that, in our judgment, clearly links the improvised explosive devices that have been used against British and other troops, mainly in the south of Iraq, to Lebanese Hezbollah and to Iran. We hope that the publicly declared position of the Iranian Government will be followed through, because we all know that there cannot be a parallel track in this matter. Everyone should be absolutely committed to assisting the democratic process in Iraq. I hope that will be the outcome of the discussion.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 437 c620
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Related items: Iraq
Monday, 31 October 2005
Written questions
House of Commons; Iraq
Monday, 31 October 2005
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Iraq Peacekeeping operations Politics and government Security Weapons Iran Hezbollah Reconstruction
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk