We condemned in the strongest terms Iran's direct attack against Israel on 13 April. The UK will continue to stand up for Israel's security and the security of all our regional partners. We are working urgently with our allies to deescalate the situation.

The Foreign Secretary spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian on 14 April and called for Iran to take immediate action to de-escalate, including by restraining their aligned militia groups and immediately releasing the MSC Aries and her crew. Furthermore, the UK announced new sanctions on Iran on 18 April, and in coordination with the US, targeted those who have enabled Iran's destabilising regional activity.

The UK did not participate in any such indirect talks in Oman in May. We remain in close contact with E3 (UK, France, Germany) and US partners to establish next steps in nuclear diplomacy with Iran. E3 Political Directors met their Iranian counterpart in Abu Dhabi on 12 June to discuss a range of issues. Iran's actions over the past month have made progress towards a diplomatic solution much more difficult.

The UK is clear that Russia and Iran's relationship does not just affect Ukraine. On 9 December in a statement the Foreign Secretary highlighted Russia's offer of military and technical support to the Iranian regime and the risk this poses to international security and our partners in the Middle East.

Alongside our allies the Government has introduced severe sanctions against Russia's defence industry, including prohibiting exports of defence equipment to Russia. Iran's supply of drones to Russia violates United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 and we will continue to work with the international community to hold Russia and Iran to account and deter others from supporting Russia's illegal war in Ukraine.

We are aware of reports of mass poisonings of school girls across Iran since November and continue to monitor developments closely. On 3 March, I [Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon] called on the Iranian authorities to investigate these incidents urgently and with transparency. I underlined it is essential that all girls can exercise their human right to education without fear.

The UK is a fierce champion of media freedom and proud member of the Media Freedom Coalition. We condemn the Iranian authorities' crackdown on journalists and internet freedom and continue to raise the issue of the Iranian peoples' right to access independent media with the Iranian government, as well as in multilateral fora.

The execution of Mr Alireza Akbari, a British-Iranian national, was a barbaric act which deserves condemnation in the strongest possible terms. His execution was a politically-motivated act - showing us the Iranian regime's complete disregard for human life. The UK will not allow this to stand unchallenged. When we were notified of the execution on Saturday 14 January, the Foreign Secretary ordered the summoning of Iran's chargé d'affaires to explain the behaviour of the Iranian Government.

The Foreign Secretary has also temporarily recalled the UK's Ambassador to Tehran for consultations. Iran must be in no doubt about how seriously we view their actions. We also sanctioned Iran's Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri on 14 January - one of the most powerful figures in Iran's judiciary, and responsible for Iran's unacceptable use of the death penalty. We will continue our work, alongside partners, to hold the regime to account.

On 24 November, the UK voted in support of the Human Rights Council's resolution to establish a UN investigation into the Iranian Government appalling human rights violations. This is a vital step towards accountability. The UK has long raised human rights with the Iranian Government at all appropriate opportunities, both directly and in multilateral fora. We will continue to work with our international partners to hold Iran to account, including in calling for Iran to allow the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran access to the country so he can properly and impartially investigate the reported abuses.

We have reached the end of talks in Vienna to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). There is a deal on the table that would return Iran to its JCPoA commitments, and return the US to the deal. Iran is currently preventing conclusion of the deal with demands beyond the JCPoA. We are in regular discussion with the US on the urgent need for a diplomatic solution to end Iran's nuclear escalation.

The Iranian authorities committed to allowing Morad to return home to his family in Tehran on furlough, and we expect them to fulfil that commitment. We continue to work with the US to secure Morad's permanent release and departure from Iran and have been clear that he must be allowed to return to his family's home in Tehran immediately. We remain in close contact with Morad's family.

We urge the Government of Iran to stop its practice of unfairly detaining British and other foreign nationals, and we will continue to work with likeminded partners to that end. It remains - and always has been - within Iran's gift to release any British national who has been unfairly detained.

We are in regular contact with the Iranian Government. At ministerial level, the Foreign Secretary spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian on 22 September and 8 November, and the Minister for Middle East and North Africa spoke with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Bagheri Kani on 11 November. The Prime Minister wrote to President Raisi after he was elected, urging him to engage with the UK on a range of issues, including our nuclear concerns, our consular cases, human rights and Iran's role in the region. Our officials, including those in the British Embassy in Tehran, also regularly engage with Iran on a wide range of issues.

We continue to have regular discussions with a range of regional and international partners, including Israel, on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and Iran's nuclear escalation. We are clear that our priority is to see the US return to the deal, and Iran return to compliance with its commitments.

Most recently, on 29 November the Foreign Secretary hosted Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, to formalise a new plan for the UK - Israel bilateral relationship over the next decade. Iran was discussed, with the Foreign Secretary updating on the UK's efforts to restore the JCPOA through talks that restarted in Vienna on 29 November.

We remain committed to doing all we can to secure Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's return home. Iran has put her through a cruel and intolerable ordeal and we have called on them, in the strongest possible terms, to end her suffering and allow her to be reunited with her family. The Foreign Secretary continues to raise the UK's serious concerns about Iran's practice of detaining foreign and dual nationals with his Iranian counterpart. Our Ambassadors in Tehran have regularly raised our detainees with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Foreign Secretary speaks regularly with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif. He and his officials take every opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with Iran, including regional stability and security. We are clear Iran must end its destabilising interference in Yemen, which has stoked further conflict in Yemen and the Houthis' reckless cross-border strikes into Saudi Arabia. We have raised this concern with the Iranian government. Iran's provision of weapons to the Houthis is widely documented, including in reports by the UN Panel of Experts, and is in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

While Iran has stated that it supports UN-led efforts to bring peace to Yemen, we urge Iran to ensure its actions are consistent with this commitment. Iran should fully support the proposals by the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, including for an urgent nationwide ceasefire.

Iran's announcement on 16 April that they have started uranium enrichment up to 60% using advanced centrifuges is a serious and deeply worrying development in violation of its nuclear commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). This is the latest step in Iran's continued and systematic non-compliance with the JCPoA. The production of highly enriched uranium is an important step in the production of a nuclear weapon. Iran has no credible civilian need for enrichment at this level.

The UK has made multiple official level representations to the Iranians on this issue, both bilaterally and as part of the E3 alongside the governments of France and Germany. As the E3 said in a statement on 14 April, this step is contrary to the constructive spirit and good faith of discussions in Vienna that have the objective of finding a rapid diplomatic solution to revitalise and restore the JCPoA.

We continue to work with the parties to the JCPoA and the US Administration to seize the diplomatic opportunity for a full return to the JCPoA. We call upon Iran to avoid any escalatory measures which make a return to mutual compliance harder to achieve.

Iran's continued systematic non-compliance with its nuclear commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) is undermining the non-proliferation benefits of the deal and jeopardising our efforts to preserve it. On 23 February 2021, the Foreign Secretary, alongside his French and German counterparts, expressed our deep regret at Iran's suspension of the Additional Protocol and urged Iran to return to compliance with its JCPoA commitments.

On 10 March 2021 the Prime Minister in his call with President Rouhani of Iran stressed that while the UK remains committed to making the Iran nuclear deal a success, Iran must stop all nuclear activity that breaches the terms of the JCPoA and come back into compliance. The Prime Minister stressed the importance of Iran seizing the opportunity presented by the United States' willingness to return to the deal if Iran comes back into compliance. Our priority is now, with the parties of the JCPoA and the new US Administration, to find a diplomatic way forward that realises the benefits of the deal.

The Foreign Secretary speaks regularly with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif. He and his officials take every opportunity to discuss with Iran a wide range of issues, including regional stability and security.

While Iran has stated that it supports UN-led efforts to bring peace to Yemen, we urge Iran to ensure its actions are consistent with this commitment. Iran's provision of weapons to the Houthis is contrary to the relevant Security Council resolutions. It is important that Yemen is not used as a theatre in which to escalate conflict in the region.

President-elect Biden has said that if Iran returns to compliance with the deal, the US would re-enter the agreement and seek to both strengthen it and extend it. This is an important opportunity to restart engagement between Iran and the US, and to realise the objectives of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which we support. We look forward to engaging with the new administration as soon as possible.

The UK remains committed to Iraq's sovereignty and ensuring that Iraq is able to govern effectively in the interests of its people. The Prime Minister underlined this support during his meeting with Prime Minister Kadhimi on 22 October. The UK regularly engages with all partners of Iraq, including Iran and the United States, in order to support stability in Iraq and the wider region.

It is indefensible that Iran has brought new charges against Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe. We made a formal request to the Iran Government for the UK Government to attend her hearing. We have consistently called for her full and permanent release and continue to raise her case at the most senior levels. The Foreign Secretary has done so repeatedly with Foreign Minister Zarif. Senior FCDO officials summoned the Iranian Ambassador to London on 29 October to raise concerns over her treatment. The Iranian Ministry of Defence requested the adjournment of the November hearings. It would be inappropriate to comment further on ongoing legal proceedings, but we continue to explore all options to resolve this dispute.

We understand that the media reporting that the Iran-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has been finalised is premature. Until final details of the deal become public, we are unable to make a full assessment of the implications. Our priority remains to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability. We remain committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) however Iran's continued reduction in compliance has seriously undermined the non-proliferation benefits of the deal. To preserve it Iran must engage with the JCPoA's Joint Commission and Dispute Resolution Mechanism (which we triggered with E3 partners on 14 January) and return to compliance.

The UK regularly discusses with the US a variety of issues related to Iran, including our shared concerns about Iran's nuclear programme, Iran's destabilising activities in the region and the various sanctions programmes targeting Iran. These discussions take place at all levels of government, including recently during the Foreign Secretary's visit to Washington in early September.