Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative). It was answered on Monday, 29 March 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iran

Question: I thank the Minister for that answer. Does he believe that the Iranian Government are serious in their undertaking in respect of uranium enrichment abroad or does he believe that they are just playing for time?

Answer: A substantive offer of engagement has been made by the international community, which has been led, in particular, by the President of the United States. I regret that Iran has failed yet to embrace that offer of engagement. Iran needs to be in doubt that this is a matter of serious and real concern for the international community and that if there is not movement and engagement on the part of Iran, there will be—we will argue for and achieve this—much tougher sanctions.

Secondary information