The seven leaders of the Baha’i faith have now served almost five years of their 20-year sentences. Regrettably, there have been no signs to date that the Iranian authorities intend to release them. Meanwhile, the persecution of followers of the Baha’i faith in Iran continues at an alarming level. This and the continuing detention of the Baha’i leaders are matters of serious concern. We therefore call again on Iran to release all seven leaders and to cease its persecution of the Baha’is. Iran must meet its obligations under international law to respect its citizens’ rights to freedom of religion and belief.

Iran has a duty to comply with its obligations under international law to protect its citizens' rights. The UK will be monitoring the Iranian elections through reports from our diplomatic network, international bodies, and media to see whether these obligations are met. The UK has no desire to interfere in the Iranian electoral process; we have made clear on many occasions that the Government of Iran is a matter for the Iranian people. The UK does not seek to change the Government of Iran. We shall continue to speak out against abuses of human rights in Iran, as we do for other countries around the world.

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has a regular dialogue with the EU High Representative on a range of issues, including Iran. They most recently discussed Iran at the G8 Foreign Ministers meeting in London, on 10-11 April, where G8 Ministers reaffirmed their desire for a peaceful and negotiated resolution to the nuclear issue, and indicated that talks could not continue indefinitely.

North Korea supplies a range of conventional arms to customers worldwide and has supplied goods in support of ballistic missile programmes, including to Iran.

We are unaware of any allegations made by Hwang Jang-yop of a nuclear connection between Iran and North Korea. In 2010, Hwang did report that North Korea had sold missiles to Iran, and we are aware that North Korea did indeed sell NODONG missiles to Iran in the 1990s. However, Hwang denied there had been a nuclear connection between the countries.

We do not routinely return passports to visa applicants in between submitting their application and the entry clearance officer making a decision. In certain circumstances we do return the passport—currently, if an Iranian national makes an application to come to the UK through the family migration route in Istanbul, we do give the applicant the option of having their passport returned whilst we process the application. We do not currently have any plans to extend this service to other Iranian applications.

The requested information is not readily available; individual case records show whether individuals are removed as a result of an asylum claim being refused, however, quantifying these records and providing management information would incur disproportionate cost.

The number of people removed or who departed voluntarily to Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan who had claimed asylum at some point since the beginning of 2004, the earliest date for which information has been published, is overleaf.

The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or who departed voluntarily from the UK. Data provided are published national statistics. The data on removals and voluntary departures by destination are available in the latest release of Immigration Statistics: October-December 2012, tables rv.06 and rv.06.q from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Statistics home page at GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2012.

Destination as recorded on source database; all nationals returned to Afghanistan, Iran or Iraq.⁽²⁾ Removals are recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken.⁽³⁾ Recorded on the system as having claimed asylum at some point.^(P) Provisional figures. Figures will under record due to data cleansing and data matching exercises that take place after the extracts are taken.

The UK does not have direct contact with the Government of Iran, but UK Ministers have repeatedly and publicly expressed the UK's serious concern at the persecution of religious minorities in Iran, including the unjustified arrest and imprisonment

of Christian pastors; and called on Iran to release those being detained for their beliefs including Pastor Fashid Malayeri. The UK also continues to support the work of the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran, whose most recent report to the UN's Human Rights Council highlights the unacceptable treatment of Christians.

The UK does not have direct contact with the Government of Iran but the British Government has repeatedly and publicly expressed our serious concern at the persecution of religious minorities in Iran, including the unjustified arrest and imprisonment of Christians and the Bahai; and called on Iran to release those being detained for their beliefs. The UK also continues to support the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, whose most recent report to the UN's Human Rights Council highlights the unacceptable treatment of religious minorities in Iran.

Iran's human rights record is appalling: and its treatment of religious minorities, in particular the imprisonment of individuals for their beliefs, is particularly shocking. According to the latest report of UN Special Rapporteur, 110 Baha’is are currently detained for exercising their faith, with around a further 400 at other stages in the judicial process. The report also notes that least 13 Protestant Christians are currently in detention centres across Iran, and that more than 300 Christians have been arrested since June 2010. Furthermore, as of November 2012, 12 Gonabadi Dervishes are reportedly in custody, as well as the leader of the Yarsan religious minority.

The UK., and its EU partners, continue to believe that robust and principled measures must be taken against entities and individuals providing support to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missiles programmes. We firmly believe that there remains a case to answer in the EU General Court cases concerning Banks Mellat and Saderat. We welcome, and support, the unanimous decision of the EU member states to appeal in those cases. Asset freezes against these, and all other entities designated under the EU Iran sanctions regime, remain in place.

We have received no reports that the Iranian Quds Force intend to attack Camp Liberty.

Consecutive quarterly reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), including their most recent report of 21 February 2013, confirm that Iran is continuing construction of the heavy water moderated research reactor at Arak, known as the IR-40 Reactor. Iran has stated that the operation of this reactor is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2014. Once operational, the IR-40 would start producing plutonium in its reactor fuel. This would need subsequent reprocessing to obtain plutonium suitable for use in a weapon.

The IAEA reports that construction of this reactor is continuing in violation of the relevant resolutions of the IAEA Board of Governors and the UN Security Council, which require Iran to suspend its enrichment-related activities and its work on all heavy water related projects. It also notes that its lack of up-to-date information on the facility “is having an adverse impact on the Agency's ability to effectively verify the design of the facility and to implement an effective safeguards approach”.

The Government remains very concerned by Iran's continuing breaches of IAEA Board and UN Security Council Resolutions. The onus is firmly on Iran to take concrete steps to co-operate fully with the agency and to comply with all its international obligations.