Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed has asked the Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, whether he believes that the Iranians are genuine when they say they are not seeking to develop a nuclear weapon.
She was speaking, yesterday in the House of Commons, following the Foreign Secretary's statement over the Iran nuclear deal. The Foreign Secretary announced that the UK and partners in the E3 + 3 - China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States had reached agreement with Iran on its nuclear programme and said; "With the conclusion of these negotiations, the world can be reassured that all Iranian routes to a nuclear bomb have been closed off, and the world can have confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian civil nuclear programme going forward".
Anne-Marie Trevelyan was called by the Speaker and said; "My late father wrote extensively in the 1960s on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the key point was that it was prestigious to have nuclear weapons. Does my right hon. Friend believe that the Iranians are genuine when they say they are not seeking to develop a nuclear weapon?"
The Foreign Secretary responded; "I believe that President Rouhani and the Supreme Leader are genuine in their edict against nuclear weapons, but I am not naive; I am sure there are some within the Iranian power structure, including in the military structure, who still hark after nuclear weapons".