{"id":22813,"date":"2026-03-02T09:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T09:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/22813\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T09:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T09:39:17","slug":"debate-flares-over-swiss-protecting-power-mandate-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/22813\/","title":{"rendered":"Debate flares over Swiss protecting power mandate in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/702094410_highres.jpg\" width=\"1300\" height=\"867\" alt=\"Smoke cloud over Tehran.\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"sync\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                Israel launched a new wave of air attacks on Tehran on Sunday and Iran responded with more missile barrages, a day after the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n<p>            Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.        <\/p>\n<p>        Switzerland represents US interests in Iran \u2014 a long\u2011standing role now coming under scrutiny as tensions escalate in the Middle East.\n<\/p>\n<p>            Listen to the article        <\/p>\n<p>            Listening the article        <\/p>\n<p>                Toggle language selector            <\/p>\n<p>                            English (US)                        <\/p>\n<p>                            English (British)                        <\/p>\n<p>            Generated with artificial intelligence.        <\/p>\n<p>        This content was published on    <\/p>\n<p>        March 2, 2026 &#8211; 10:09\n<\/p>\n<p>Decades of hostility between Iran and the United States have culminated in open conflict. For Switzerland, the situation carries particular weight: since 1980 it has acted as Washington\u2019s protecting power in Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe crucial point is that this communication channel between Washington and Tehran must remain open,\u201d says Monika Schmutz Kirg\u00f6z, head of the Middle East and North Africa Division at the Swiss foreign ministry.<\/p>\n<p>Protecting power channel remains active<\/p>\n<p>Switzerland has represented the interests of the US in Iran since 1980 as part of a protecting power mandate. The mandate dates back to the hostage crisis of 1979: after the Islamic Republic was proclaimed in Iran, students occupied the US embassy in Tehran and took staff hostage. The US subsequently broke off all diplomatic relations with Iran.<\/p>\n<p>A year later, Switzerland offered to represent the interests of the US in Iran. Since 1980, it has thus acted as a \u201cmessenger\u201d between Washington and Tehran, taking on diplomatic and consular tasks. The corresponding \u201cchannel\u201d, which represents the interests of the US, is active, the ministry says. It is available to both sides and in both directions.<\/p>\n<p>Protecting power mandates form part of Switzerland\u2019s foreign and peace policy tradition. They ensure a minimum level of contact between states that have severed diplomatic or consular ties. But criticism of Switzerland\u2019s role in Iran is growing.<\/p>\n<p>&gt;&gt;Read more about Switzerland\u2019s special connection to Iran:<\/p>\n<p>\n    More<\/p>\n<p>    <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1c6f425bd590ae672d9247d18e75f289-347442575_highres-data.jpg\" width=\"1300\" height=\"867\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        More    <\/p>\n<p>        Foreign Affairs\n        <\/p>\n<p>        Iranian protests test Switzerland\u2019s special status with Iran    <\/p>\n<p class=\"teaser-wide-card__excerpt\">\n<p>                        This content was published on                    <\/p>\n<p>                        Nov 15, 2022                    <\/p>\n<p>                Iran has been rocked by violent protests. This has brought Switzerland\u2019s special role into focus.            <\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"teaser-wide-card__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swissinfo.ch\/eng\/business\/switzerland-s-special-relationship-with-iran\/48049266\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>            Read more: Iranian protests test Switzerland\u2019s special status with Iran<br \/>\n    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Protecting power mandate superfluous<\/p>\n<p>Centre Party parliamentarian Gerhard Pfister, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, argues the mandate has outlived its usefulness. \u201cFor years I have believed that these so\u2011called \u2018good offices\u2019, which Switzerland claims for itself, are in fact very bad services to the Iranian people,\u201d he says. With the outbreak of war, he adds, the mandate has become superfluous.<\/p>\n<p>Foreign policy expert Franziska Roth, a Social Democratic senator, shares that view. \u201cThe Federal Council should relinquish the protecting power mandate. It has been the main reason for Switzerland\u2019s soft\u2011pedalling towards the brutal mullah regime,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Switzerland refrained from adopting certain European Union sanctions for this reason, Roth argues. \u201cThe appeasement policy we have pursued until now achieves nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>    <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/700225895_highres.jpg\" width=\"1300\" height=\"867\" alt=\"Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis and Abbas Araghchi shaking hands\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                In mid-February, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (right) met his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva.            <\/p>\n<p>            Keystone \/ Cyril Zingaro        <\/p>\n<p>Diverging views within the Centre Party<\/p>\n<p>Pfister\u2019s Centre Party colleague, Elisabeth Schneider\u2011Schneiter, disagrees sharply. \u201cSwitzerland should now fulfil its special role and contribute to de\u2011escalation as a protecting power,\u201d says the Swiss parliamentarian.<\/p>\n<p>In her view, the Federal Council should offer International Geneva as a venue for negotiations between the warring parties.<\/p>\n<p>The US and Iran had indeed held indirect talks in Geneva until recently \u2014 albeit without results, as the eruption of war on Saturday demonstrated. \u201cWe certainly must not give up now,\u201d Schneider\u2011Schneiter says.<\/p>\n<p>&gt;&gt;Cyrus Schayegh, professor of international history at the Geneva Graduate Institute, told SWI swissinfo.ch some time ago that Switzerland\u2019s protective mandate in Iran has lost much of its influence.<\/p>\n<p>\n    More<\/p>\n<p>    <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/000_34KH4RP.jpg\" width=\"5472\" height=\"3648\" alt=\"Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        More    <\/p>\n<p>        Foreign Affairs\n        <\/p>\n<p>        \u2018Less impressive and less important\u2019: Switzerland\u2019s role as an intermediary in Iran    <\/p>\n<p class=\"teaser-wide-card__excerpt\">\n<p>                        This content was published on                    <\/p>\n<p>                        Jun 10, 2024                    <\/p>\n<p>                Cyrus Schayegh, a professor of international history at the Geneva Graduate Institute, discusses Iran\u2019s future foreign policy and why Switzerland\u2019s role in the region could fade. \u00a0\u00a0            <\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"teaser-wide-card__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swissinfo.ch\/eng\/foreign-affairs\/less-impressive-and-less-important-switzerlands-role-as-an-intermediary-in-iran\/79843205\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>            Read more: \u2018Less impressive and less important\u2019: Switzerland\u2019s role as an intermediary in Iran<br \/>\n    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wait for things to \u2018cool down\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Swiss People\u2019s Party parliamentarian Roland Rino B\u00fcchel calls for patience. \u201cWe do not have an important role now. When things cool down again, when the conflict is drawing to an end, then we can be a platform again,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>B\u00fcchel believes the mandate is often overstated. In practice, he argues, it is mostly about providing consular services such as issuing visas. \u201cIt is not a major diplomatic role that we have been playing there for decades,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Closing communication channels \u2014 as some politicians have demanded \u2014 would be \u201cbad and pointless\u201d, B\u00fcchel adds.<\/p>\n<p>Adapted from German with AI\/sb<\/p>\n<p>        Articles in this story    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel launched a new wave of air attacks on Tehran on Sunday and Iran responded with more missile&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[101,3931,301,2143,334,11503,17],"class_list":["post-22813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-article","tag-beat-best-of-srg-content","tag-beat-foreign-affairs","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-production-type-adaptation","tag-quick-win","tag-switzerland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}