British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly stressed that London will continue to work with its allies to “take the necessary measures to prevent Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region.”
“We will continue to take action both to prevent that destabilizing activity in the region and also very specifically target with sanctions those individuals who are responsible for that behavior,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat in an interview on the sidelines of the IISS Manama Dialogue on Sunday
Asked about whether security measures are in place to protect London-based “Iran International” television from Iranian threats, the minister replied: “We take the security of people in the UK incredibly seriously. We take the importance of free, honest and open journalism incredibly seriously and when we believe there are threats on the UK mainland obviously, we respond.”
Moreover, he stressed that the UK will remain committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, saying: “It is now up to Iran to respond meaningfully to the negotiations that we have put forward.”
Security arrangements are in place at “Iran International” offices in London. Are the Iranian threats genuine? By stepping-up security, what kind of message are you sending to the Iranians?
We take the security of people in the UK incredibly seriously. We take the importance of free, honest and open journalism incredibly seriously. When we believe there are threats on the UK mainland obviously, we respond.
We want to send a message to people that they should feel safe and secure in the UK and that they will be protected by the UK. We want to send a message, as we did when we summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires, that threats to journalists are unacceptable and we will respond.
That’s why we’ve taken action to protect people in the UK from what we are perceiving to be threats from Iran because it is incredibly important that people feel able to speak openly and honestly about what is going on in Iran.
In your speech at Manama Dialogue, you said that Russia and Iran are threats to the security of the Arab region. The UK has imposed sanctions and summoned the charge d’affaires. Are these measures enough to send a message to the Iranians?
We are putting very targeted sanctions in response to the specific actions of individuals. So, when we discovered that Iranian drones were being sold to Russia and those drones were then used to attack civilians and civilian targets in Ukraine, we put in very specific sanctions for companies and individuals responsible for those drone exports to Russia.
When we saw Iranian women being brutalized by the Iranian regime, we put specific sanctions against the so-called “morality police”.
We want the Iranian leadership to listen to the Iranian people and we will make sure that when members of the Iranian leadership do things which are unacceptable, we target those individuals and those entities very timely with our sanctions to deter them.
What about Iran’s role in the region?
When we find out that Iran is attempting to destabilize its neighbors, we take action. For example, British warships have intercepted the missile systems or engines for missile systems coming from Iran and will continue to take action both to prevent that destabilizing activity in the region and also very specifically target with sanctions those individuals who are responsible for that behavior.
Would you say that nuclear negotiations with Iran are over and finished now?
We put a very credible deal to the Iranians back in March of this year, they are still yet to respond. In the intervening period, we have now seen them take brutal reprisals against the Iranian women who are speaking out against the regime. We’ve seen them exporting drones to Russia being used against civilian targets.
We remain committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but it is now up to Iran to respond meaningfully to the negotiations that we have put forward. The ball is very much in Iran’s court and has been for a while now and they should really respond.
Does that mean negotiations are over?
As I said, the negotiations we put, the offer we put forward was a sensible and pragmatic. The Iranians thus far have not engaged properly with that. I also believe that the message I may send to the Iranian leadership is that it is in their hands to take action which would engage better with this process. We put a deal forward, it is a very good deal and the Iranians should engage with that.
Turning to Ukraine, at the G20 summit was Russian President Vladimir Putin as isolated as London and its allies wanted him to be?
I think the fact he did not feel able to go to the G20 sends an important signal. We saw the communique coming out from the G20 where the majority of countries there were condemning Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, we saw the United Nations 153 countries condemning Russia’s illegal annexation of eastern and southern oblasts in Ukraine, so Putin’s actions are seeing him isolated on the world stage.
It is clear that he felt it was not credible for him to travel to Indonesia to attend the G20 and voices across the world, including countries that have had long standing and close relationships with Russia, are telling him that this invasion was a terrible mistake. They are calling on him to bring it to a conclusion. Many countries, as I said, the majority of countries in the UN voted to condemn his actions. Putin has made himself isolated on the world stage.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Kyiv. What is your vision for the endgame in Ukraine? Is it along the Crimea 2014 or pre-February 24 lines, or are we talking about new lines?
Sunak visited Kyiv to demonstrate our ongoing solidarity with the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian leadership including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The prime minister made it clear that we will continue supporting Ukrainians as they defend themselves against Russian aggression.
It is also a reminder to the world that it is up to Ukraine to decide when they are ready to come to the negotiating table and under what conditions they might be willing to accept peace agreement.
It is not for other countries to in any way dictate the Ukrainians what a peace agreement might look like, that is for the leadership of Ukraine and we are committed to support them until they prevail against this attack.
At the G20 summit you tried to isolate Putin, but tried to negotiate with Chinese President Xi Jinping. So, is the West willing to work with China to form the new world order?
We will continue to work with China on the areas where we have mutual interest and indeed where the needs of the world are important. For example, China has a huge role to play in moving from hydro-carbon energy to green energy. But when we speak with China, as I did when I met my counterpart Wang Yi in New York, we are honest with them about the areas where we have deep disagreement, for example their treatment of the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, their response to the Covid outbreak, their unwillingness to abide by the agreements in Hong Kong and the sanctioning that has been imposed against British parliamentarians.
So, we will work with China where there is an opportunity to work with them but we will also make clear our opposition to the actions that we disagree.
What about Syria? Is it forgotten? Can this country, with so much humanitarian suffering, and five armies involved (the US, Russia, Türkiye, Iran and Israel) be forgotten?
Syria is still very much in our thoughts. We see millions of Syrian refugees in countries around the region and we do thank those countries for supporting those Syrian refugees. We still see a significant number of Syrians in camps within Syria displaced from their homes.
We will continue to work to try and bring some resolution to the conflict there so that Syrians can go back home and Syria can once again be the sophisticated, vibrant, economically prosperous country that it once was.
But even though many people in the world are talking about Russia and Ukraine, and that is absolutely right, I can assure you, and any of the Syrian readers of this interview, that we still do a lot of thinking about Syria. We discuss with the regional neighbors about the protection of Syrians that have been displaced and we will keep working towards bringing a proper meaningful peace to Syria once again.
