Swiss FM hails ‘good exchange’ of views during Tehran visit

Wrapping up his three-day official visit to Iran late on Monday, Cassis posted a number of pictures of his meeting the Iranian president on Twitter and wrote, “Meeting with President @HassanRouhani. Good exchange on future of Iran nuclear deal and stability of the region.”

He also referred to an official report by the Swiss Foreign Ministry on his Tehran visit, which reads:

Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif during an official visit to Tehran. Their discussions focused on Switzerland's protecting power mandates and efforts to ensure the region's stability.

As the two countries celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, they also discussed cooperation in the fields of trade, science and human rights.

Mr. Cassis underlined that Switzerland and Iran have a long-standing relationship based on trust.

Mr. Cassis reaffirmed Switzerland's readiness to continue to promote and facilitate constructive dialogue between the countries of the region. At the same time, he called on Iran to comply with the nuclear deal. Iran thanked Switzerland for the work it carries out under its protecting power mandates.

Mr. Cassis, Mr. Rouhani and Mr. Zarif also discussed the progress made towards implementing the bilateral roadmap agreed in 2016 covering, among other matters, trade and finance, human rights, and cooperation in the fields of science, the environment, health, intellectual property and nuclear safety.

Mr. Cassis cited the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement as a good example of Swiss-Iranian cooperation. "With the payment mechanism for the export of medicine and food, we are not only supporting Swiss companies, but also the people of Iran, which is currently subject to US sanctions," noted Cassis.

During his three-day working visit, Mr Cassis also paid a courtesy visit to the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Cassis also welcomed the creation of the Iran-Switzerland parliamentary friendship group to mark the anniversary of diplomatic relations.

MR