Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the report of the International Atomic Energy Authority on Iran's development of nuclear missiles. [82067]

Alistair Burt MP; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State : The UK fully supports the work of the director general and of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in producing this important report. They have handled a very sensitive issue with care and rigour, and have worked diligently to verify and validate the information that the report draws on. In response to the report, the IAEA Board of Governors passed a resolution expressing its

“deep and increasing concern about the unresolved issues regarding the Iranian nuclear program”; these are concerns we share.

The report itself clearly indicates that Iran has failed to address the IAEA's “serious concerns” about the “credible” information available to it that “indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device”.

It also presents evidence that provides a compelling picture of Iranian work on nuclear weapons technologies-not only up to 2003 but also beyond-and work on the continuation and expansion of its uranium enrichment programme, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. Finally, the report clearly documents Iran's repeated failures to co-operate with the agency. Iran must cease its attempts to deflect the legitimate concerns of the international community and co-operate with the agency, fully and without delay, to resolve them.