Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Andrew Dismore (Labour). It was answered on Tuesday, 25 July 2006 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Middle East

Question: Does my right hon. Friend agree that Hezbollah is Syria’s proxy in Lebanon, and that it has been heavily armed by Syria and Iran, which thus bear considerable responsibility for the continuing tragedy in Lebanon and for the missiles that are raining down on Israeli cities? Does she agree that Iran has engineered the crisis to divert attention from its lack of response to the international community on its offer concerning civil nuclear power—no doubt the inference being that there is a nuclear weapons programme there? Does she agree that Hezbollah must be disarmed in accordance with UN resolution 1559, if a repetition of the present disastrous confrontation is to be avoided in future?

Answer: I share my hon. Friend’s concerns, as I think does the whole House. I entirely take his point about the potential influence of Iran and Syria and their supplying of weapons, and his point about the timing of the issues. He alleges that the events were perhaps engineered by Iran, but whether they were or not, they are remarkably convenient for that Government.

Secondary information