Historic talks between the United States and Iran are taking place at the secluded Bürgenstock hotel above Lake Lucerne, in a meeting Washington says could help “reshape the Middle East.” The choice of Switzerland is not accidental: Bern is using its long-standing ties with Tehran to reassert itself as an international mediator and to justify its famed neutrality.
Switzerland says it has been neutral since 1515, with that status later закрепed in early 19th-century international agreements. Swiss officials argue that neutrality, together with a strong banking system and political stability, underpins the country’s prosperity and appeal to investors. On Iran, Switzerland plays an especially important role, even though it enforces energy and financial sanctions. After Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, Swiss diplomats helped rebuild trade ties and negotiate the release of American hostages. Since 1980, and especially after the 1981 hostage deal, the U.S. has given Switzerland responsibility for its consular affairs in Iran, including visas and documents, while Switzerland also represents Iranian interests in places such as Canada and Egypt.
That diplomatic access gives Bern prestige and leverage. Its embassy in Tehran remained open during the current war and has served as a channel for direct messages in earlier crises, including “Operation With All Your Might” in June 2025. Switzerland has also backed Iran’s bid to join the World Trade Organization and has shown symbolic respect to Iranian leaders, including a 2008 visit by then-foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, who met Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wearing an Islamic headscarf. Economically, however, the relationship is small, Swiss banks and firms follow U.S. sanctions, a multi-billion-dollar gas deal was later cancelled under American pressure, and Swiss exports to Iran totaled about $200 million last year.
Over the past decade, Switzerland has become a key venue for Iran nuclear diplomacy, hosting the original Lausanne talks that led to the JCPOA in Vienna. After Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from that deal in 2018, Switzerland again became a meeting point for Europe and Iran, including tense Geneva talks last year. During the current war between the U.S. and Israel and Iran, Bern says neutrality required it to halt arms and security shipments to the U.S. immediately, while keeping its embassy in Tehran open to pass messages and issue quick visas for Iranian negotiators. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said Switzerland’s trust with Iran now serves “diplomacy and the pursuit of peace and security in the Middle East.”
