Khalid Mahmood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will take steps to assist in securing the release of Kamal Foroughi from Evin Prison in Iran.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We remain very concerned about the case of dual-national Mr Kamal Foroughi. Iran does not recognise dual nationality and as such has not granted us consular access. I met his family on 1 December, and confirmed that we have raised this with the Iranian authorities on repeated occasions, urging Iran to provide regular medical assistance and access to a lawyer which are both key to securing his release. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised this with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif and President Rouhani during his visit to Iran in August. He also raised it most recently with Foreign Minister Zarif in New York at the UN General Assembly in September. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) raised the case with President Rouhani during a telephone call in July, and wrote a further letter on the matter in October regarding our consular cases.