Cooper summons Iranian ambassador and announces new sanctions amid protests

Yvette Cooper has summoned the Iranian ambassador over the crackdown on protests in the country, as the Foreign Secretary announced new sanctions on the regime.

Ms Cooper told the Commons reports on the violence carried out by the Iranian government against protesters in recent weeks may not reflect the severity of the situation, and they could be far worse.

She said she had spoken to the Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday, and had voiced the UK’s “total abhorrence of the killings, the violence and the repression”.

New restrictions will be brought in on “full and further sanctions” in Iran’s oil, energy, nuclear and financial sectors.

She said the decision to summon the ambassador came as she wanted answers on the “horrific reports” and to “underline the gravity of the moment”.

Conservative shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel asked why the ambassador had not been summoned sooner, and asked for further details on the sanctions.

It has been reported that thousands of people have been killed, and more arrested as activists opposed to the regime headed by supreme leader Ali Khameni have taken to the streets.

She said: “They have been met with the most bloody repression. A total internet shutdown instigated by the Iranian regime from January 8, along with restrictions on phone communications, means that the full facts are not yet clear.

“But I am fearful that the reports that we have seen may underestimate the full scale of the horror as further evidence and testimony reaches the outside world.”

Ms Cooper said the Iranian government was “peddling its manufactured narrative of foreign manipulation” and had portrayed protesters as criminals and terrorists.

She said: “The United Kingdom condemns in the strongest of terms the horrendous and brutal killing of Iranian protesters, and we demand that the Iranian authorities respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of their citizens.”

She continued: “Today, as further reports have come through, the minister for the Middle East (Hamish Falconer) at my instruction, has summoned the Iranian ambassador to underline the gravity of this moment and to call Iran to answer for the horrific reports that we are hearing.”

Announcing the sanctions, Ms Cooper told MPs they came in response to the “brutal forms of repression”.

She said: “I can confirm the UK will bring forward legislation to implement full and further sanctions and sectoral measures.

“The UK has already designated key players in Iran’s oil, energy, nuclear and financial systems.

“Further measures will target finance, energy, transport, software and other significant industries which are advancing Iranian nuclear escalation, and we will work further with the EU and other partners to explore what additional measures might now be needed in response to developments.”

In response, Dame Priti said: “Where is the Government’s resolve to stand up to Iran, back those protesting and work to bring about the end of the cruelty of this regime?

“As Iranian citizens are sacrificing their lives in the fight for their own liberation, what message of hope and reassurance does the Foreign Secretary give to those risking their lives on the streets of Iran each day.”

Ms Cooper did not provide specifics on what sanctions would be put in place or explain why the ambassador had only just been summoned.

Replying to Dame Priti, she said: “It needs the international community to come together on this in the face of this brutality from the Iranian regime.

“We need that concerted action, not just around sanctions, not just around the enforcement of the existing sanctions, but also around the overwhelming pressure.

“We will pursue that through the UN, we will pursue that through every avenue we can.”