Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)

My Lords, we must show solidarity and support the young Iranians seeking democratic rights, and we must protect those such as journalists and those in BBC World Service radio who are working to ensure that there is information, which can be life-saving in times of crisis. Can the Minister update the House on the status of the BBC Persian service? I think we all supported the emergency support for there being radio provision at a time of internet blackouts. Can the Minister update us on the availability of information for the Iranian civilian population? We must also ensure at this time that British joint nationals are protected. Can the Minister update us on what consular support may continue to be available? I support the Government’s actions on making sure that our diplomats are protected, but what kind of consular support will be ongoing? In extreme circumstances, especially for victims who are young women, who are being particularly targeted, these Benches believe that there does need to be a safe and legal route for asylum, potentially, which we do not currently have. Any Government who have religious morality police is one whom liberals are instinctively wary of, but a Government who use their organs of state to repress their people, imprison and torture peaceful protesters, target young women and murder those simply wanting a say on who governs them need to be condemned in the strongest terms. The civilians in Iran are also having to grapple with unreliable and contradictory information from President Trump from the United States. As I mentioned, I support the UK’s precautionary actions on its diplomatic staff within Iran and, indeed, those within Qatar, but I have not heard so far advice for those within Baghdad and Basra in Iraq. Having frequently visited the border of Iran in that area, I know that any turmoil in Iran will have an impact in that area. If the Minister could update us on the advice for southern Iraq, that would be helpful. As we saw just yesterday on Venezuela, President Trump is happy to work with autocrats, as long as they are his autocrats. It does not offer much faith to liberal governance and for those protesters. Can the Minister assure us that the British Government want to see open, fair, democratic governance within Iran, not simply a regime that will offer oil rights to one of our allies? Finally, on sanctions, which we support, we will support the Government in enhancing the work even further, but we do not support the lack of proscription of the IRGC. In the previous October, when we discussed the Iran country regulations, I pointed out a loophole, and I will add one today, to which I hope the Minister might respond. Our sanctions are on individuals and on trade and goods, but they do not cover intermediaries or brokers or those who facilitate funds to the religious police or the IRGC. The sanctions are not under the human rights regime; they are under the trade regime, whereas the human rights regime can be expanded rapidly to ensure that those facilitating human rights abuses can also be covered. I know that the Minister will say that she will not comment, but can she comment on the fact that we are open to considering the human rights regime for sanctions, not just trade sanctions, and that is catered for under the countrywide regulations? The second loophole is that the lack of proscription for the IRGC means that those who provide support or financial assistance to it are also outwith the scope of UK actions. I hope the Minister will agree that, if there are any loopholes at this time, we must close them.