President Hassan Rouhani will visit Austria and Switzerland next month as part of Tehran’s intention to secure effective European backing for the 2015 nuclear agreement after the US pulled out of the deal in May.
Rouhani will visit Switzerland July 2-3 and then head to Vienna–home of the UN nuclear watchdog that monitors Iran's compliance with the accord, AFP reported.
Relations between Iran and Switzerland, which represents Iran's interests in the United States, have deepened in recent years, and Rouhani will be welcomed with full military honors, a statement from the Swiss presidency said.
Vienna played host to marathon talks that began in June 2013 and led to the signing in July 2015 of the deal aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Rouhani will confer with Swiss President Alain Berset and oversee the signing of documents for cooperation in political, economic, and cultural areas, besides attending a gathering of Swiss-based Iranian nationals.
The first meeting will take place in Bern, which will be attended by Foreign Affairs Minister Ignazio Cassis and Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Swiss government said in a statement on Monday, Swiss Info reported.
Official talks will be held on July 3, where Switzerland will be represented by Berset, Finance Minister Ueli Maurer, Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga and Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann.
The government said a number of agreements and declarations of intent were expected to be signed during the visit, with talks being held on Iran nuclear agreement and the situation in the near and Middle East.
“Further issues include the protecting power mandate which Switzerland exercises on behalf of the US in Iran (since 1980), and on behalf of Iran in Saudi Arabia and of Saudi Arabia in Iran, which recently came into effect,” the statement said.
“Also on the agenda is the question of how bilateral relations can be further developed in light of the decision by the US to reintroduce sanctions against Iran, which had been suspended since 2016.”
The future of the landmark nuclear deal was thrown into doubt when President Donald Trump announced last month that the US would withdraw and reimpose sanctions that would hit international businesses operating in Iran.
Important Partner
Iran is an important partner for Switzerland both politically and economically, according to the Swiss Foreign Ministry. The two countries adopted a road map to expand bilateral relations at the end of February 2016 when the then Swiss president Johann Schneider-Ammann visited Teheran and signed a "road map" for building business, financial and other links.
“This served as an impetus to launch or resume regular dialogue in the fields of economic and financial affairs, human rights and justice, nuclear safety and migration,” the ministry said.
“The visit by the Iranian president provides an opportunity to take stock and discuss the next steps in implementing the road map.”
Rouhani’s visit also comes on the heels of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's tour of Europe to persuade European leaders to abandon the international nuclear deal and follow Trump in imposing new sanctions on the country.
