Written question asked by Lord Turnberg (Non-affiliated) on Wednesday, 11 March 2020, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 25 March 2020. It was answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Conservative) on Friday, 27 March 2020 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iran: Detainees

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Iran about the reported detention without trial of (1) Nabi Tardust, (2) Ramtin Movaseghi, (3) Ashkan Valizadeh, and (4) Milad Ghorban Nezhad.

Answer: We are aware of reports that a number of university students were arrested by Iranian security forces and detained without trial during the protests in January over the Iranian military's shooting down of a Ukrainian plane. We unreservedly support the right to peaceful protest and call on Iran to uphold its commitments under international law to protect freedom of assembly and speech, and treat all detainees in line with international standards. The UK regularly raises human rights with the Iranian authorities at all levels and we continue to take action with the international community to press Iran to improve its poor record on all human rights issues and to guarantee procedural fairness in legal cases, including most recently at the UN Human Rights Council in March this year.

Secondary information