Peter Oborne
William Hague appears before the Foreign Affairs Committee to answer questions about Iran at 4pm this afternoon. The Foreign Secretary urgently needs to be pressed on the following points:
1. We all know that the British government has formal sanctions against Iran, designed for instance against companies involved in nuclear power. But why is the British government still discouraging legal trade with Iran?
2. In recent months Tehran has received trade delegations from France and Germany. But there has been nothing from Britain, which seems afraid to offend the United States. Why not?
3. The Foreign Secretary insists that there are no legal restrictions on British banks handling financial transactions with Iran. This claim, however, is hopelessly disingenuous, as I explained in my Telegraph column of 19th February.
British banks which trade with Iran are immediately targeted by the United States Treasury. Any bank that has an operation in the United States, or makes any transaction in US dollars, places itself within reach of punishment and a huge fine.
4. The situation is so bad that is impossible even to supply humanitarian aid and vital medicines to Iran, as described very clearly in this Reuters report just a few days ago.
5. MPs should ask Mr Hague why he allows British banks to be targeted by the United States.
We all know that there are sanctions in place designed to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons, and that is reasonable. But the British government maintains that sanctions are not there to challenge ordinary Iranians.
The truth is different. Britain has – without the consent of parliament – allowed the United States to blockade almost all trade with Iran, while pretending otherwise.
I hope that MPs test Mr Hague very thoroughly about this desperate state of affairs this afternoon.
William Hague appears before the Foreign Affairs Committee to answer questions about Iran at 4pm this afternoon. The Foreign Secretary urgently needs to be pressed on the following points:
1. We all know that the British government has formal sanctions against Iran, designed for instance against companies involved in nuclear power. But why is the British government still discouraging legal trade with Iran?
2. In recent months Tehran has received trade delegations from France and Germany. But there has been nothing from Britain, which seems afraid to offend the United States. Why not?
3. The Foreign Secretary insists that there are no legal restrictions on British banks handling financial transactions with Iran. This claim, however, is hopelessly disingenuous, as I explained in my Telegraph column of 19th February.
British banks which trade with Iran are immediately targeted by the United States Treasury. Any bank that has an operation in the United States, or makes any transaction in US dollars, places itself within reach of punishment and a huge fine.
4. The situation is so bad that is impossible even to supply humanitarian aid and vital medicines to Iran, as described very clearly in this Reuters report just a few days ago.
5. MPs should ask Mr Hague why he allows British banks to be targeted by the United States.
We all know that there are sanctions in place designed to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons, and that is reasonable. But the British government maintains that sanctions are not there to challenge ordinary Iranians.
The truth is different. Britain has – without the consent of parliament – allowed the United States to blockade almost all trade with Iran, while pretending otherwise.
I hope that MPs test Mr Hague very thoroughly about this desperate state of affairs this afternoon.
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