Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Anderson of Swansea (Labour). It was answered on Tuesday, 9 May 2006.

Iran

Question: My Lords, will the Minister go a little further by quoting the former Foreign Secretary, who said that such a military intervention would be ““inconceivable””? Does she agree that, even at the threat of military action, the people of a very proud nation would be certain to rally around their Government? Perhaps the Government might encourage the United States Government not only to try to use the European Union as a surrogate but also, so far as is possible, to seek dialogue with Iran on the issue.

Answer: My Lords, my right honourable friends have made our position clear in a number of ways. When asked about military options with respect to Iran, including nuclear weapons, my right honourable friend the Prime Minister said in another place:"““nobody is talking about these things””.—[Official Report, Commons, 19/4/06; col. 118.]" My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary has said that it is nobody’s intention to take the course of military action. We have said that,"““military action is not on anyone’s agenda””." I think that my noble friend would agree that working through the international community and our international partners is the best way of achieving our ends, although we do not rule out our bilateral relationship with Iran.

Secondary information