Foreign and Commonwealth Office written question – answered am ar 18 Hydref 2019.
Janet Daby
Llafur, Lewisham East
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to secure the release of Mr Anoosheh Ashoori.
Andrew Murrison
Minister of State (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) (Joint with the Department for International Development)
The Government remains extremely concerned about the welfare of British-Iranian dual nationals detained in Iran, including Anoosheh Ashoori. Iran does not recognise dual nationality and therefore does not permit access to British-Iranian detainees. We are committed to ensuring that we do everything we can, including continuing to press the Iranian authorities for consular access. The Prime Minister raised his concerns about dual national detentions with President Rouhani on 24 September, and the Foreign Secretary did so with Foreign Minister Zarif on 17 September. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon hosted an event at the UN General Assembly on 25 September to call out the failings of the Iranian judiciary. I raised the issue in Tehran with my Iranian counterparts in June.
Yes2 people think so
No1 person thinks not
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
