The regime in Iran has again tried this week to crush the protests in the country with all its might. About 300 protesters have been killed so far, according to human rights activists. It is not foreseeable that the mullah regime will give in. Recently, the head of the Revolutionary Guards publicly threatened to use the army against the protesters. It would be a new level of escalation.
Germany is now pulling the string and urging its compatriots to leave Iran. “For German citizens there is a concrete risk of being arbitrarily arrested, interrogated and sentenced to long prison terms,” Berlin warned on Thursday. Above all, dual citizens who, in addition to German, also have Iranian nationality, are at risk.
So-called hostage diplomacy is a tried and tested tool for the regime in Tehran. Foreigners and people with dual citizenship, commonly accused of espionage for the West, are often used as bargaining chips. According to human rights groups, 17 double citizens from Europe and North America are currently behind bars.
According to the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EDA), at least 189 Swiss are still in the theocracy. 160 of them hold dual Swiss-Iranian nationality, meaning they are potentially particularly vulnerable to regime attacks.
However, unlike Germany, Switzerland is currently waiting and not calling on people to leave the country. They closely observe the demonstrations and point out the risks of traveling to Iran, for example “that Iranian laws differ significantly from Swiss legal norms,” as the FDFA reports.
Switzerland’s role brings security
In particular, suspected espionage or meddling in political affairs would be prosecuted and punished, according to Bern’s warning. The FDFA is currently not aware of Swiss or dual nationals imprisoned in Iran.
Given current Swiss foreign policy, the mullahs should not hold any particular grudge against Switzerland. Because Switzerland does not accept the latest EU sanctions against the regime, as the economic and foreign departments announced in the middle of this week.
The good offices of Switzerland in Iran play a role in this, it is official to hear. Switzerland has five protective powers in Iran, including one for the US.
Switzerland’s Iran policy was the subject of criticism yesterday during a national Iran demonstration, which gathered more than 1,000 people in Berne’s Bundesplatz.
The Federal Council is listening, a change in Swiss Iran policy is on the way, so the question. All sanctions should be passed and opponents of the Iranian regime in Switzerland should be better protected from deportation.