Despite its protecting power mandate for the United States in Iran, Switzerland lacks influence to de-escalate tensions in the region. Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel on Saturday in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy compound in Syria has raised tensions another notch in the Middle East. Iran claims it gave neighbouring countries Turkey, Jordan and Iraq, as well as the United States, 72 hours’ notice before launching the strikes. However, Washington claims it was only informed though Switzerland (that represents US diplomatic interests in Iran) when the strikes were already ongoing. When contacted, the foreign ministry refused to comment on the communications passed on by the Swiss. “The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs does not comment on activities related to its protecting power mandates, spokesperson Pierre-Alain Eltschinger responded by email. “Switzerland strongly condemns the coordinated attacks from Iran against ...
