In recent weeks I have been asking questions of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office regarding the British Embassy in Iran which was attacked and vandalised by a violent mob in Tehran in 2011; this assault led to a break of diplomatic relations between Britain and Iran.
It is of course taxpayer’s money which goes to fund our embassies across the world and I believe that under international law the British taxpayer has the right to compensation for the wanton destruction of British sovereign property, some of which was of historic importance and of considerable monetary value.
After repeatedly asking various Government departments for an inventory of property lost, I have received a list in the last fortnight and it lists oil paintings alone worth an estimated £1.2 million.
British taxpayers deserve reimbursement from the Iranian Government for the lost works of art under the Vienna Convention, because they are responsible for foreign missions of their soil under long-established international law, and I will continue to monitor the Foreign Office so that rightful compensation follows.
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