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standard.co.uk – Rishi Sunak has said he is “increasingly concerned” about Iran’s behaviour after the country’s security forces launched a brutal crackdown on protesters.
In his first interrogation by the Commons Liaison Committee since becoming Prime Minister in October, Mr Sunak told MPs on Tuesday afternoon that the treatment of protesters by Iran’s security forces in recent months was “abhorrent”.
He added: “Whilst Russia and Ukraine remains our number one foreign policy challenge as we go into the new year, I am increasingly concerned about Iran’s behaviour and the treatment of their citizens, what they’re doing in the region which is destabilising and indeed the nuclear programme.
“So I think it’s something that we’ll need to spend increasing amount of time on going forward.
“I think the protests that we’re seeing in Iran send a very clear message that the Iranian people aren’t satisfied with the path that the government has taken.
“We stand very much with the people of Iran. I think the treatment of protesters is quite frankly, abhorrent.”
Continuous protests against the ruling theocracy have taken place in Iran since September after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab “improperly”.
On Monday, UN Secretary General António Guterres said crackdowns on protests by Iranian authorities in recent months were unacceptable.
Security forces have killed more than 500 protesters and arrested over 18,000, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has been closely monitoring the unrest.
Over the weekend, one of the country’s most renowned actresses was arrested on charges of spreading falsehoods about the protests, the latest in a series of celebrity arrests that have included footballers, actors and influencers.Skip
In his session with the Liaison Committee, which is made up of chairs of Commons Select Committees, Mr Sunak said the UK had sanctioned over 40 different individuals connected with the protests including what he said was the “so-called morality police”.
He said that earlier this month the UK, together with international allies, kicked Iran out of the UN Commission.
