Photo: Chris McAndrew, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Steve McCabe MP, Chair of Labour Friends of Israel, has written a letter to the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab MP, expressing deep concern about the lifting of the UN arms embargo on Iran. In the letter, Steve McCabe expresses his huge disappointment that it has “not been possible to secure international consensus to extend the arms embargo” and asks “what action the United Kingdom Government intends to take” once it has been lifted.
Whilst recognising “major flaws” in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Steve McCabe writes that the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw unilaterally from the agreement, has “done nothing to tackle the enormous threat which the Islamic Republic poses to peace and stability in the Middle East”.
The letter notes that last month’s report from the International Atomic Energy Agency confirms that, in contravention of the JCPOA agreement, “Iran continues to expand its stockpile of enriched uranium”. In addition, Iran has, in contravention of several UN resolutions, “successfully developed an indigenous ballistic missile defence capacity”.
Steve McCabe calls the expiration of the embargo “hugely concerning for the State of Israel” and adds that “it can only strengthen Iran’s other nefarious activities throughout the region, further destabilising Iraq and Lebanon, and adding to the bloodshed and tragic loss of life in Syria”.
He has asked the Foreign Secretary to outline “what steps the UK will take to strengthen sanctions against Iran after December 31st, both in regard to the arms embargo but also the wider danger it poses to our allies in the region”.
To read the letter in full click here.