[Mr. Christopher Chope in the Chair] — Human Rights (Iran)

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 9:49 am on 8 July 2009.

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Photo of Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn Labour, Islington North 9:49, 8 July 2009

I congratulate Lembit Öpik on securing this timely and welcome debate. I endorse all the points that he made about religious freedoms and tolerance, which are necessary in any modern society. In Iran, which has a plethora of ethnic communities and religious groups, that sort of tolerance is more important than in many other countries. I therefore support what the hon. Gentleman said about the rights of Baha’is, Jews, Zoroastrians, Christians, non-Shi’a Muslims, and people of other religious faiths to be able to practise their religion and to operate in freedom. What he said this morning is extremely important and it is important to have that on the record. Iran is a signatory to the United Nations charter—obviously, because it is a member of the UN—and the universal declaration of human rights. All those rights are protected in international law, so it is perfectly right and proper to exert that pressure.

These are stirring and important times in Iran. The demonstrations of the past few weeks following the election have been unprecedented since 1979—phenomenal numbers of people have appeared on the streets. I deplore the way in which many of the demonstrators have been treated—the beatings and killings. That is not acceptable in any society, be it in Iran, China or anywhere else in the world. People have an absolute right to express their views peaceably on the streets.

Coverage of the demonstrations that was received around the world was interesting. Initially, various Iranian channels reported the demonstrations, as did the BBC, CNN and others, and there was an interesting degree of opening in political debate, both inside and outside Iran, immediately after the elections. One should be pleased about that.

I was pleased to sign and support early-day motion 1755, tabled by my hon. Friend Mr. Drew, which condemns

“the arrest, torture and murder of protesters...and urges the Iranian Government to accept free and fair UN-supervised elections.

I do not believe for one moment that Iran will accept outside supervision of elections, but every country in the world, including the UK, should be more than happy to accept international observers and reporting of elections. We should not be so precious about that. We send observers to other countries and we should welcome observers here. Every country’s electoral process should be open to observation, which would create a degree of equality.

These are interesting times, but it seems that after the protests about the election and the demands by Mousavi’s supporters for a recount following the declared very large majority for Ahmadinejad, the Guardian Council approved a limited and partial recount, but the Supreme Leader declared that the election result must stand and that was the end of the matter. At that point, public debate was effectively closed down, as was any attempt at serious discussion. We must express serious concern about that, not in a spirit of hostility to Iran or its history and culture, but in a spirit of co-operation and support for civil society in Iran. There is an important distinction to be drawn, which I shall discuss.

The excessive rhetoric, particularly from the Bush Administration and at various times from our Governments, has not helped the situation—in fact, it has made it worse. There must be a process of dialogue and respect. Far too little is understood of Iranian history—Iran is the inheritor of the great civilisation of Persia—and the persistent British and American meddling in Iranian affairs. During the first world war, Britain occupied parts of what is now Iran; we installed and removed various Governments of Iran; and British and Soviet Union forces occupied Iran again during the second world war, eventually withdrawing.

In 1952, the nationalist Mosaddeq Government were elected on a manifesto of obtaining equality of oil revenues from the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, later the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, which later became BP. The British refused, there was a dispute, and a coup was engineered by the CIA and the British. The Mosaddeq Government were removed, the Shah came to office, compensation was paid to BP, and we were back to square one with a repressive regime under the Shah. Those events are remembered in Iran. Iranians do not forget British involvement and our obsession with their oil reserves. When dealing with Iran, we must remember that we do not have clean hands, and we should be prepared to admit that.

The Shah’s oppressive regime, with its appalling human rights record, used outside SAVAK forces to attack Iranian students. I remember that during the 1970s, when the Shah’s secret agents operated in British universities and tried to criticise Iranian students who were active. The Shah’s human rights record led to huge protests and demonstrations and he was eventually removed in 1979, apparently only a few weeks after the British security services and the CIA had said that it was perfectly safe for him to stay there for many decades. They misunderstood the situation somewhat, and not for the first time.

In the turmoil of the 1979 revolution, Iran did not turn into a secular democracy. It became a Muslim state under Ayatollah Khomeini and the present constitution was invoked. It is an interesting document, but the western press simply fails to understand Iran’s power structures. It assumes that President Ahmadinejad, because he is President, is equivalent to President Bush or an executive Prime Minister in the west, but he is not. He is head of the civil Government, obviously, but he and anyone else are allowed to be a candidate in the election only if they are approved by the Council of Guardians, which is responsible to the Supreme Leader. The Assembly of Experts also has a role in appointing the Supreme Leader.

There is a tripartite/quadripartite sharing of power in Iran, and we should remember that whatever the President or anyone else says, that is not the whole story; it is only part of it. One should try to understand that, and the fact that within all the complications of Iranian society and its structures, there are people who manage to speak up for civil rights and women’s rights, to organise trade unions, to pursue intellectual work, and to operate in independent universities. Like any other society, Iran’s is not a seamless whole, and we should also be aware of that, too. Western strategy on Iran is part of the problem, and I shall be grateful if the Minister says a little more about that.

After Khomeini became the Supreme Leader, Iran entered a period of isolation and US sanctions. Because of the relationship between the US and Iran following the taking of US hostages and the resulting difficulties, the Iran-Iraq war occurred. Although that dreadful war probably suited Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini in equal measure, it cost the lives of at least 500,000 people. It also made a great deal of money for the arms industry around the world. We should remember that, again, Britain and the United States do not have clean hands, because at the same time as we were trying to buy oil from Iran, we were supplying arms to Iraq to provoke that war. Our role in recent history is not clear and not clean. Whatever we say about Iran, we should have some respect for our own role.

Israel’s threats to Iran are obviously serious and Israel’s ability to bomb Iran is very strong. Iran is a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but not the supplementary protocol allowing unannounced inspections. It is developing a nuclear reactor and processor, but that is not the same as developing nuclear weapons. Although I do not want Iran or any other country in the world to develop nuclear weapons, any more than I want this country to continue to hold nuclear weapons, it is impossible to argue credibly for nuclear disarmament and a nuclear-free middle east while we remain silent about Israel’s development of nuclear weapons and its obvious ability to use them at some point. If we are serious about bringing about peace in the region, that also requires promotion of a nuclear-free middle east, which requires Israel to be brought to the table through a nuclear weapons convention.

It is important to get those general points on the record. In supporting human rights in Iran, we must build up the best possible contacts and relationships. Parliament to Parliament, there have been Inter-Parliamentary Union delegations, which have enabled some contact and the development of a relationship in that way. Much better relations must also be developed between universities, trade unions and civil society groups, and there must be support for individual cases such as those to which the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire referred.

I chair an organisation called Liberation, which was involved originally as the Movement for Colonial Freedom and is now more of an international solidarity organisation. We had our annual meeting last Saturday and we passed an extensive resolution on Iran. I shall quote some of that very long resolution. We said:

“The high rate of people’s participation in the election alerted the international community to the fact that the Iranian people wish to have and take an active role in their own destiny.”

It is important to say that. We went on to make specific requests, stating:

“The international community therefore should support the Iranian people’s struggle for peace, democracy and social justice in their country.”

We pointed out the “continued deterioration” of human rights in recent years in Iran and the “flagrant disregard” for internationally accepted conventions. We were referring to the most extreme forms of sharia law that are used, involving the stoning of individuals, amputations and public executions. Obviously, that is totally wrong and must be condemned, as I would condemn the death penalty in any circumstances anywhere in the world.

We also raised the violations of the rights to free speech, freedom of association and peaceful protest, which are important, and the continued detention of trade unionists and workers’ activists, including the leader of the Tehran Public Bus Company workers syndicate, Mansour Osanloo. I hope that a message goes out that we support his release just as much as we would support the release of any other person held on grounds of conscience or activity. We pointed out that the International Labour Organisation conventions 87 and 98 require all signatory states to allow the organisation of independent trade unions. That applies just as much to Iran as to any other country. In raising all those issues, and in supporting women’s rights and women’s activists in Iran, we have to send a message that we are serious about supporting human rights and civil society in Iran.

Our history is not clean by any means. The rhetoric used against Iran, the sanctions policy being used against Iran and the implicit military threats that have been made against Iran at various times do not force Iran to back down and operate differently. Instead, they unite Iranian people against the west, build the feeling of isolation and build the power of those who wish to pursue military options in Iran rather than peaceful options.

There must be a way for us to open a dialogue. A previous Foreign Secretary—the current Secretary of State for Justice—went to Iran and tried to open that dialogue and I commend him for doing that. I did not agree with what he did over the Iraq war, but I did agree with the fact that he was prepared to go to Iran and participate in that dialogue.

I hope that when the Minister replies, he will say that we are prepared to maintain dialogue with the Government of Iran; to co-operate in sending observers to future elections, if the Iranians are prepared to allow that, because it would be a helpful way forward; and to do what we can to take up individual cases of human rights abuse and individual cases in which people are wrongfully detained. Doing that will promote the development of the very strong civil society that has demonstrated itself on the streets of Tehran and the other cities in the past two weeks, and will help to develop the tolerant civil society that traditional Muslim countries have and the toleration that traditional Islam is all about. The Jewish community has always been present in Tehran; the Zoroastrians have always been there, as have people of many other faiths. There is much to be very proud of in the history of Iran and in the tolerance of ordinary people in Iran towards those of different faiths.

That is the message that we must send: one of sympathy, support and understanding, but above all condemnation of the abuses of human rights and the illegal and irrational imprisonment of people who are merely standing up for their cultural identity, their trade union rights or their right to demonstrate and express their political views.