Theresa Villiers proposed the urgent question, asking about the representations the foreign secretary has made to the Iranian authorities about the ongoing protests regarding the death of Mahsa Amini.
Gillian Keegan, MP for Chichester who was speaking on behalf of the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said that the protests were a “shocking reminder” of the repression faced by women in Iran, and that 200 sanctions had been placed on senior security and political figures in Iran, as well as “the so-called morality police”.
However, despite the declaration of these sanctions being made, several MPs in the Commons said that they simply weren’t enough…
MP for Chingford and Woodford Green Iain Duncan Smith urged the consideration of taking the “criminal actions” to the United Nations. Steve McCabe, MP for Selly Oak echoed this, saying Keegan should “take a leaf out of his book”.
“Instead of treating Ebrahim Raisi like he’s an elected head of state, what we should be doing is referring him to the United Nations for being a mass murderer”, adjured McCabe.
Gillian Keegan responded that she “could not discuss” future actions or sanctions. This was a phrase she repeated throughout the proceeding, despite the requests of several MPs for clarity on what will be done to further punish the Iranian government.
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