---

Global Security (Iran)

I agree, and that is one of the saddest things about this recent incident. People in the west underestimate Iran and vice versa. We need to understand the Iranian people. There is great anger on the streets of Iran. When we were there, people perfectly openly criticised the regime. Just as the Chairman of the Committee said, people come up and say what they think. They say, "The man's a muppet and the regime shouldn't be allowed to do this or that." The Supreme Leader's brother criticised him last year and got beaten up, so people do break ranks, even if they do not necessarily do so in an organised manner. Because the political regime does not allow party politics, there is very little collective protection for people who want to espouse such views. Iranian people are very suspicious of foreign intervention, and we have to be cautious in our solutions. Russia and Britain have form—the US's form is rather nouveau riches. We have to be cautious. Foreign intervention such as a big stamp of approval for Mr. Mousavi would do him and hope of reform no good whatever. We must not underestimate the nationalistic nature of Iranian people. Iran is not like Iraq. It is not made up of Shi'a, Sunni and Kurd areas on a rather artificial map that was pretty much drawn up by the British not so long ago; it is a nation state that feels like a nation state, and it is predominantly dominated by Shi'ism. Whether Iranians are pro-Shah or conservative, we should not underestimate their strength of feeling for their country. When we were in Iran last summer, we met some American Iranians who go over every summer to help the Iranian health service. They are Shahists and cannot stand the regime, but they do what they do because they feel that they will be contributing to their country. When considering the measures to take to deal with Iran and any extreme action, we should remember not to underestimate the national pride of Iranian people. I disagree with the hon. Member for Thurrock and my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, South (Mr. Binley) about the Mujahidin-e-Khalq or PMOI. None of the millions who protested in the streets was protesting for the restoration of the MEK, and no one wanted the PMOI to be allowed a role in Iranian politics. The Supreme Leader—the second President—was blown in half by the PMOI. It is a Marxist organisation. It has not been active because its people have been sitting in a camp after fighting for Saddam Hussein in Iraq. I do not want Her Majesty's Government to do business with such an organisation. As in Iraq, we must ask ourselves whether our enemy's enemy is our friend. Have we forgotten the lessons of history? We should be very careful with whom we do business. Let us remember that the US re-proscribed the PMOI in February. We only have to read the evidence, which is submitted and published online, to realise that the US has not moved much on the PMOI.