John Baron MP questions Foreign Secretary over wider implications of Iran nuclear deal

MP says both sides must learn from past mistakes

Today during Foreign and Commonwealth Office questions in the House of Commons, John Baron MP pressed the Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon William Hague MP, as to the possible wider implications of a successful nuclear negotiation with Iran.

In the House of Commons, John asked,

“There has been a very encouraging start to these negotiations. Will the Foreign Secretary give his assessment as to the wider implications of success for other challenges in the region – including Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq – and the prospect for a normalisation of diplomatic relations between our two countries?”

The Foreign Secretary replied that a large amount of work remains before securing a comprehensive agreement with the Iranians over the nuclear issue, and that it is too early to tell what long-term effect President Rouhani’s government will have on the direction of Iranian foreign policy. However, he did confirm the British Chargé d’affaires had recently visited Iran.

Afterwards, John said,

“Partly because of our misguided invasion of Iraq, Iran is a major regional power with whom we need to negotiate if there is to be any resolution to the many challenges in the area. Mistakes have been made by both sides in the past. Success in the nuclear negotiations must be used as a building block for talks on other issues.”