Written question asked by Anneliese Dodds (Labour) on Monday, 14 July 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 16 July 2025. It was answered by Hamish Falconer (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 August 2025 on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Iran: Political Prisoners and Women

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support (a) women and (b) political prisoners under threat from the Iranian regime.

Answer: We continue to support women and political prisoners in Iran through sustained action alongside international partners in multilateral fora. In the past eight months, the UK was integral to the delivery of two Iran human rights resolutions. The first, adopted by the UN Third Committee in November 2024, condemned Iran's intensified and targeted repression of women and girls, and called on Iran to immediately and unconditionally release persons arbitrarily detained for the exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including human rights defenders, journalists and all those who remain under detention for taking part in peaceful protests. The second, adopted by the Human Rights Council in April 2025, renewed the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, and renewed and expanded the mandate of the Fact-Finding Mission to investigate a wider breadth of violations, and to establish the facts, circumstances and structural causes of such violations, including discrimination on grounds of gender and political views. Our Ambassador to Iran and I continue to raise human rights directly with the Iranian Government.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 67434
Session: 2024-26
Related items: Somayeh Rashidi
Monday, 3 November 2025
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Women Political prisoners Iran
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk