Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

In 2022, Sir Gary Hickinbottom’s commission of inquiry identified gross failures of governance in the British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory. The inquiry found that, with limited exceptions, the people of BVI had been badly served in terms of governance.

In the aftermath of these findings, and the arrest and subsequent conviction of the former Premier in the United States of America, the United Kingdom Government agreed an implementation framework with the new Premier, Natalio Wheatley, to drive the delivery of vital reforms to address the serious deficiencies identified by the commission of inquiry.

An Order in Council that would allow for an interim Administration was also drafted for use in extremis, should the BVI Government have failed to complete their stated programme of reforms.

In November 2024, during a visit to BVI, I announced that I would review progress, taking into account public consultations held by the Governor and the BVI Government, a final report from the Governor, reviews by FCDO officials, and a self-assessment by the BVI Government.

I can inform the House that the new BVI Government, working closely with the Governor and BVI public servants, have made important progress and engaged constructively.

While progress has been slower than initially envisaged, a number of significant pieces of legislation have been passed and the agreed framework actioned. Given the progress made, an interim Administration is not required or justified, and thus the draft Order in Council is now being revoked.

However, the hard work of ensuring continued implementation of these changes now begins. In discussions with Premier Wheatley, I have re-emphasised the importance of building on these strong foundations, to secure good governance that is sustainable in the long term and delivers for the people of BVI. To that end, I have also instructed the Governor to establish a monitoring mechanism, with twice yearly public reports. I have been clear that we reserve the right to take any appropriate actions necessary in future, in line with our responsibilities to the security and good governance of BVI and the interests of both BVI and the United Kingdom.

We will continue to support BVI in a spirit of partnership, and we have set clear expectations that there must be no repeat of the failings in governance that lead to the commission of inquiry.

Separately, we continue our work with BVI to deliver improvements in financial transparency in line with commitments made at the last Joint Ministerial Council, most recently discussed during the recent visit of Baroness Margaret Hodge at my direction and in my conversations with Premier Wheatley, as well as our work on sanctions enforcement and on areas of common focus such as environmental protection. I want to thank Departments across HM Government for their support in this work and the Governor, the Premier and their teams.

We have long held concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme. It is for that reason that the UK was at the forefront of diplomatic efforts culminating in the joint comprehensive plan of action in 2015.

The JCPoA was designed to provide the international community with assurances around the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme. However, since 2019 Iran has escalated its programme far beyond JCPoA limits, with no credible civilian justification. The IAEA’s latest report from June details that Iran has over 440 kg of 60% enriched uranium.

That is why on 28 August, the UK, France and Germany —the E3—triggered the snapback mechanism at the UN Security Council. This started a 30-day process before the eventual reapplication of UN sanctions.

This step came after the UK, France and Germany had offered Iran an extension to the snapback mechanism in July. The requirements we set for an extension—including the resumption of negotiations, Iran’s compliance with its IAEA obligations, and steps to address our concerns regarding the high enriched uranium stockpile—were not met by Iran. These measures were fair and achievable.

Our snapback extension offer remained on the table during the 30-day snapback process. We continued intensive diplomacy with Iran to find a solution, including during United Nations High-Level Week where I twice met Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi. Regrettably, Iran did not take the necessary actions to address our concerns, nor to meet our asks on extension.

The UN Security Council sent a clear message that Iran must be held accountable for its nuclear escalation by voting down two resolutions that would have extended sanctions-lifting on Iran. Following the conclusion of the 30-day UN process on 28 September, six previously terminated UN Security Council resolutions were reinstated.

This statement supersedes the written ministerial statement of Wednesday 1 July 2025 on Armenia and Azerbaijan: Arms Embargo [HCWS760].

I wish to inform the House of the significant developments in the South Caucasus and the United Kingdom’s response to the historic progress made in the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process.

On 8 August, a trilateral peace summit hosted by President Trump in Washington D. C. brought together President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia. The summit resulted in the initialling of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the signing of a joint declaration. This declaration included a joint appeal to dissolve the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group and a commitment to secure unimpeded connectivity between Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan exclave, while respecting Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The UK warmly welcomes the progress made by Armenia and Azerbaijan towards peace. These developments mark a pivotal moment in efforts to secure lasting peace and stability in the region.

In recognition of Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s progress, and to support continued momentum towards peace, the UK Government have decided to upgrade their bilateral relationships with both Armenia and Azerbaijan to strategic partnerships. These partnerships will formalise co-operation in areas including trade, security, and defence, and will be underpinned by annual ministerial-level meetings to review progress. I visited Armenia and Azerbaijan from 24 to 26 August to reaffirm UK support and discussed with the leaders of both countries how the UK could take practical measures to reinforce the prospects for long-term peace in the South Caucasus.