We welcome the prospect of a US return to the JCPoA. 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 realise the objectives of the JCPoA which we support. A return to diplomacy represents the best means of bringing greater security to the region, upholding the nuclear non-proliferation regime and preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. We look forward to engaging with the new administration on this issue.

We welcome the prospect of a US return to the JCPoA. 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 realise the objectives of the JCPoA which we support. A return to diplomacy represents the best means of bringing greater security to the region, upholding the nuclear non-proliferation regime and preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. We look forward to engaging with the new administration on this issue.

The  UK, along with France and Germany (the E3), have expressed their full solidarity with all impacted by  COVID-19  in Iran. We are working with the international community to ensure that Iran receives the humanitarian support it needs: the E3 have provided a EUR 5 million package of financial and material assistance to Iran via the World Health Organisation and UN bodies to help with the response. We also continue to engage the US on a range of policy matters relating to Iran, including how the international community can best support the Iranian Government's response to the COVID-19 crisis in Iran. We welcome the new US Treasury factsheet issued on 16th April summarising the humanitarian exemptions to sanctions against Iran and offering additional guidance for individuals and governments.

The E3 (the UK, France and Germany) have provided a EUR 5 million package of financial and material assistance to Iran via the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UN bodies to help with the response.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

We are working closely with the EU Commission and other member states to mitigate the impact of US sanctions on businesses continuing to trade with Iran. This involves delivering a special purpose vehicle to support European companies engaged in legitimate trade with Iran, raising with the US the need to make allowance for trade in humanitarian goods, and updating the Blocking Regulation.

​Ministers and officials across Government have consistently raised with the US this Government's support for UK companies to continue to trade with Iran. This supports our policy of maintaining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which is important for our national security, and a central part of our Iran policy. The Prime Minister and President Trump most recently discussed Iran policy when they met at the UN General Assembly in September.

Ministers and officials across Government have consistently raised with the US this Government's support for UK companies to continue to trade with Iran, including through regular engagement by the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor. This supports our policy of maintaining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which is important for our national security, and a central part of our Iran policy. The Defence Secretary regularly discusses Iran with his US counterpart, and the Foreign Secretary raised US sanctions with Secretary Pompeo at the UN General Assembly and in a phone call on 11 September.

UK ministers and officials have consistently and repeatedly raised with the US this Government's support for UK companies to continue to trade with Iran. This supports our policy of maintaining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which is important for our national security, and a central part of our Iran policy. British Embassy officials in Washington and officials in London have had weekly discussions with the US on this issue, and a delegation of senior officials visited Washington in September for discussions on Iran.

The Government regrets the decision of the US Administration to withdraw from the JCPoA and re-impose American sanctions on Iran. We did our utmost to prevent this outcome; from the moment that President Trump's Administration took office, we made the case for keeping the JCPoA at every level. The UK worked very closely with France, Germany and US counterparts to find a way forward to address President Trump's concerns, involving months of intense discussions to secure US commitment to the deal, but without reopening the terms of the agreement. Earlier this month, the Foreign Secretary travelled to Washington and repeated the UK's support for the nuclear agreement in meetings with Secretary Pompeo, Vice-President Pence and National Security Adviser Bolton. The Prime Minister spoke with President Trump by telephone several times, including on Saturday 5 May.

We now urge the US to preserve the gains that the Iran nuclear deal has brought, avoiding actions that would prevent the remaining parties from meeting their commitments to upholding the agreement. We await more detail from the US following President Trump's promise to find a lasting solution to the Iran nuclear threat.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) is a UK security priority. The UK is committed to full implementation of the JCPoA by all parties. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to report Iran's compliance with its nuclear commitments. The Prime Minister spoke to President Donald Trump on 10 October and met him in the margins of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September, emphasising on both occasions that the deal is working and is a UK priority. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, on 9 October and met him in London in September. The Foreign Secretary set out that the JCPoA is the only diplomatic means to neutralise the nuclear threat from Iran and that it is working. This message is being delivered to the US at all levels of Government.

As so often, I agree with the noble Lord.

It is very important to the future peace of Syria, when ever we are able to bring that about, to have Iranian commitment to it. That is extremely important, which is why we have never opposed on principle Iranian involvement in the Geneva II process. I stressed last week in the House that it would be important for Iran to give some constructive signal that it would approach Geneva II on the same basis as all other nations, which is to implement the Geneva communiqué of June 2012. It is a great shame that it felt unable to do that publicly yesterday, which is why, to save the Geneva II process, the UN Secretary-General rescinded the invitation that he had issued on Sunday.

None of the 52 residents of Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty who were previously settled in the UK have any current immigration status here. We have agreed to consider, exceptionally, their re-admission as refugees, subject to a UN High Commissioner for Refugees

(UNHCR) assessment of each individual to ensure that none have been complicit in acts of terrorism or other activities incompatible with refugee status. Thus far, UNHCR have submitted 17 assessments to the Home Office. No decisions have yet been reached.

Following the attack on Camp Ashraf on 1 September we have raised the safety and security of residents at Camp Liberty with the UN and the Government of Iraq. We regularly receive updates about the situation at Camp Liberty from the UN, who continue to report that conditions at Camp Liberty meet international humanitarian standards.

I refer the right hon. and learned Member to the answer given by my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt) on 10 June 2013, Official Report, column 84W. During his meeting with the Iraqi Foreign Minister in February my hon. Friend raised his concerns about the 9 February attack on Camp Liberty and discussed residents' access to medical care.

The Memorandum of Understanding which the Government of Iraq agreed with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq in December 2011 allowed only for the voluntary relocation of residents from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty. We have seen no evidence that residents were forced to relocate to Camp Liberty, and have therefore made no representations to the US or UN about such allegations. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is responsible for the process of resettlement of residents to third countries. We are considering, on an exceptional and case by case basis, the readmission of 52 residents who have had previous residence in the UK as refugees.

The UN is responsible for monitoring conditions at Camps Ashraf and Liberty. British embassy officials therefore would not make an independent assessment, though we continue to raise issues with the UN and Government of Iraq when appropriate. We do not currently have plans to visit the camps again, given the UN's role. I raised my concerns about the 9 February 2013 attack on Camp Liberty and discussed residents' access to medical care with the Iraqi Foreign Minister when we met in February.

The Memorandum of Understanding which the Government of Iraq agreed with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq in December 2011 allowed only for the voluntary relocation of residents from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty. We have seen no evidence that residents were forced to relocate to Camp Liberty, and have therefore made no representations to the US or UN about such allegations. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is responsible for the process of resettlement of residents to third countries. We are considering, on an exceptional and case by case basis, the readmission of 52 residents who have had previous residence in the UK as refugees.

The UN is responsible for monitoring conditions at Camps Ashraf and Liberty. British embassy officials therefore would not make an independent assessment, though we continue to raise issues with the UN and Government of Iraq when appropriate. We do not currently have plans to visit the camps again, given the UN's role. I raised my concerns about the 9 February 2013 attack on Camp Liberty and discussed residents' access to medical care with the Iraqi Foreign Minister when we met in February.

The Memorandum of Understanding which the Government of Iraq agreed with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq in December 2011 allowed only for the voluntary relocation of residents from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty. We have seen no evidence that residents were forced to relocate to Camp Liberty, and have therefore made no representations to the US or UN about such allegations. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is responsible for the process of resettlement of residents to third countries. We are considering, on an exceptional and case by case basis, the readmission of 52 residents who have had previous residence in the UK as refugees.

The UN is responsible for monitoring conditions at Camps Ashraf and Liberty. British embassy officials therefore would not make an independent assessment, though we continue to raise issues with the UN and Government of Iraq when appropriate. We do not currently have plans to visit the camps again, given the UN's role. I raised my concerns about the 9 February 2013 attack on Camp Liberty and discussed residents' access to medical care with the Iraqi Foreign Minister when we met in February.