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Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis will be in Iran until tomorrow. Today, Sunday, the Federal Council met with the Speaker of Parliament, Baqer Qalibaf, on a courtesy visit to Tehran. Later, Cassis visited the Swiss embassy. There, the “Foreign Interests” section offers consular services for US citizens living in Iran or traveling to Iran. The occasion was the 40th anniversary of Switzerland’s protective power mandate to represent the interests of the United States.
Ignazio Cassis
Foreign minister
SRF News: What is your goal on this visit to Iran?
Iganzio Cassis: The main objective is to strengthen relations between Iran and Switzerland. This serves to build trust for the bilateral path between Switzerland and Iran and for the protective power mandate, as a mediator between the United States and Iran.
What would be the “worst case”, what should not happen?
You can always make mistakes in life, that’s part of it. There are two things to avoid: First, having too high expectations, because the world changes, but people don’t change in five minutes. Second, do things that destroy trust, either with Iran or the United States, or at worst, with both.
And how are you doing so far?
So far it has been going very well. Today, on the anniversary day, we celebrate 100 years of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Iran. These one hundred years of diplomacy grew out of an 1880 accord, which was titled: “Commerce and Peace.” And today, 140 years later, it is more or less the same: “Trade and peace.”
Human rights are trampled on in Iran. Are you allowed to make a common cause with such a country?
Human rights are an achievement of the modern age. It still happens today that many countries in the world do not respect human rights. As a result, the question arises: what should Switzerland do? Don’t you talk to any of these countries, don’t you talk to them? Or: talk together, build trust and also address the issue of human rights? Switzerland has chosen the second route.
The interview was conducted by André Ruch.
