The United States and Iran concluded a preliminary agreement to halt the war this weekend. According to an expert, it will be formally signed in Geneva on Friday, at Tehran’s request. The city could also play a role in the negotiations that follow.
The United States and Iran have reached a memorandum of understanding brokered by Pakistan, bringing their conflict closer to a formal end. According to US officials, the agreement was signed remotely over the weekend. However, an official ceremony is planned in Geneva on Friday – at Iran’s insistence. For Tehran, it appears important to anchor the process in a place that carries symbolic weight as a centre of multilateral diplomacy.
For Bern, which played no part in the negotiations, this represents an opportunity to highlight its good offices. “Switzerland welcomes the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran, facilitated by Qatar and Pakistan,” the Swiss foreign ministry said. Its chief of communications, Nicolas Bideau, confirmed that Swiss diplomacy is in “close contact” with all parties to “facilitate a signing on Swiss soil”.
According to Pakistani sources, the signing is expected to take place at Islamabad’s diplomatic mission to the UN in Geneva. Further talks should follow in the next 60 days with the aim of reaching a final agreement, and could be held between Geneva and Qatar, according to Hasni Abidi, a lecturer at the Global Studies Institute at the University of Geneva.
“Iran wants to make a statement by coming to Geneva, the city of multilateralism,” he says. “It was a key venue during the earlier nuclear negotiations under Obama. It is also more visible than Islamabad, and it allows both sides to move beyond a purely bilateral framework. The US, which has a significant presence in Geneva, has no objection.”
While Switzerland did not act as a mediator, Pakistan, Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been doing the diplomatic legwork, especially on the financial aspects of any future deal.
“Switzerland, which no longer holds a monopoly on good offices, has coordinated well with Qatar and is making the most of its strong relationship with Iran. This was therefore a good opportunity to seize,” Abidi added.