My Lords, these measures go beyond the human rights sanctions already in place, as the Minister has said, and are now much broader in their scope and, potentially, their depth. They address Iran’s regrettably growing internal oppression and external aggression. I support the measures and am grateful to the Minister for the clear way that he introduced them.
The noble Lord, Lord Collins, and I have debated Iran on a number of occasions in Grand Committee and the Chamber. The fact that its activities at home and abroad warrant debates in this House is testimony that the United Kingdom has considerable interest in ensuring the safety of our nationals, both at home in the UK and abroad, as well as that of our allies. It is regrettable that these measures need to be in place. As they are broader, deeper and country-wide and could set precedents for other areas, it is right that they be scrutinised. I wish to ask the Minister a number of questions. I fully understand if he cannot answer them today but I would be grateful if he could write to me.
As the Minister said, the context of the repression is the reprehensible persecution and oppression of women and young women in Iran by both the morality
police and the judiciary, which cannot be considered free and independent. I would be grateful if he could outline the interaction between those bodies that are now open to sanctions within the police and the revolutionary guard and, as human rights measures are to be put in place, their interaction with members of the judiciary. We have seen all too frequently in Russia and Belarus how judiciaries are now completely captured by regimes and are not independent arms. Can the Minister clarify whether members of the judiciary will also be covered by these measures?
I asked a broader question at the outset about women and girls. I have raised the point repeatedly in the Chamber and to the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad. There had been opportunities for those persecuted to seek refuge in the UK through asylum routes, but there is now no longer a safe and legal route for migration to the UK for Iranian women seeking asylum. This was highlighted in a Home Office report just a number of days ago. Can the Minister write to me about what safe and legal routes exist beyond that offered by UNHCR, which is not a comparable direct route?
We know that Iran often operates not alone but with other countries, through proxies or with other state entities. The Minister was clear that these sanctions will cover Iran’s activities in other countries. What are the consequences for those countries facilitating them? What sanctions can be applied to those bodies that effectively provide proxy support?
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Turning to the measures themselves, I note that a condition that needs to be met for sanctions to be put in place is the Secretary of State herself—or the United States, the European Union, Australia or Canada—having put in place relevant provisions. I would be grateful if the Minister could write to me—I do not expect him to answer today—on the sanctions regimes in those countries that are comparable to the UK. Both the noble Lord, Lord Collins, and I have often asked questions about why, for example, the European Union has put measures in but the UK has not, or whether Canada has put in measures while the UK has not. The noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, has repeatedly said that they operate under their own sovereign sanctions regimes; that is absolutely the case, and I am not disputing that fact, but now, as I read it, we have an automatic triggering for sanctions under condition B. I would be grateful if the respective comparable sanctions regimes that would allow the UK to trigger could be laid out. I say at the outset that I am not opposed to this but just seeking clarity.
I turn to those associated with a person who could be sanctioned under these regimes, including those with a financial benefit or other material benefit from the person. The Minister will know well enough that the UK has had an issue with facilitators in both the legal services and the consultancy services. I would be grateful if the Government consider that a person “associated with” a sanctioned person would cover a UK legal representative. Regrettably, there have been times when legal services have been used for malicious purposes—we have debated those cases—and I would like to be reassured that there are no loopholes with regard to that.
I will jump to Regulation 60, on treasury licences. The Minister may recall that one difficult issue was Treasury licences being offered for legal services to be deployed for a sanctioned individual to effectively offer a malicious legal case. I would be grateful if the Minister could confirm that there will be no loophole for legal services and Treasury licences.
On assets overall and asset freezes, this is welcome, but I would be grateful if the Minister could state whether the sanctions applied to asset freezes for individuals who would be sanctioned under these regimes —Iranian officials—can be extended to the joint assets that Iran will have, connected either to other states or to proxy finance. As I indicated, the Minister knows all too well that Iran does not operate solely in many of the activities he outlined. Often, it is through proxy organisations or in some form of partnership with other groups, whether it be proxies for the Putin regime or others. I campaigned for and welcomed very warmly the Government proscribing the Wagner Group, for example, which is an illustration of how non-government bodies can effectively carry out operations on behalf of Iran. We will come on to talk about the sanctions regime with regards to Russia, and diamonds, gold and oil, and this is an area where Iran has been very active.
My final question relates to shipping and the naval aspect, which is topical at the moment, given the Statement that will be repeated tomorrow on the actions against the Houthis. As I understand it, the sanctions will allow for someone, a body or a particular vessel to be designated so that they will not have access to UK ports of entry. This is under Regulation 55. I seek clarity on British Overseas Territories. My reading of this is that the sanctions will provide exceptions to entries by those sanctioned into overseas territory ports. I hope I am not correct about that being exempted. I hope it is not the case that a sanctioned vessel would be prohibited from landing at a British port but would be able to land at a British Overseas Territory port. Again, I hope I am not correct, so I seek clarification on that.
The Government have indicated that they do not consider a review clause in this instrument appropriate. I gently differ slightly with them, because, as I said, this is a broad set of sanctions and there could well be consequences. I understand that it is absolutely in the Government’s power to remove or bring forward amendments to sanctions if they consider it appropriate, but a review mechanism would be helpful; if the intent is to change the behaviour and practices of a sovereign state, knowing the impact and effectiveness of that—and sharing it with Parliament—will be important. Although the Government have said that they do not believe that a review clause in the instrument is appropriate, I hope Ministers will be free to brief Members, either privately or publicly in the House, on the impact and effectiveness of these measures.
With those questions, I support the measures.