Swiss FM due in Tehran to expand SHTA

A businessman says the top Swiss diplomat is planning to visit Iran in the upcoming days to discuss how his country could expand a humanitarian channel meant to help Tehran avoid the illegal US sanctions imposed on Iran.

According to Press TV, Sharif Nezam Mafi, who chairs the Iran-Switzerland Joint Chamber of Commerce, said on Wednesday that during his visit to Tehran, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis will try to secure funds from the Iranian side for further activation of the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA). 

“During this trip ... (they) will be seeking an expansion of the SHTA and its worth noting that a main discussion on this issue is the financing,” Nezam Mafi was quoted as saying by ILNA news agency, adding, “It seems that some solutions have been found to secure these financial resources.”

Cassis is due in Tehran on 5-6 September to mark the 100th anniversary of his country’s diplomatic presence in Iran, said a report by the IRIB News.

Swiss authorities managed to accommodate a first official transaction under the SHTA in late July. That proved critical for both Switzerland and Iran as it was a first time since the re-imposition of the illegal US sanctions in 2018 that funds belonging to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) had got round the US sanctions and were processed by a European bank. 

Switzerland has secured a special waiver from Washington to allow the SHTA to work. That comes despite repeated claims by the US government that Iran’s humanitarian needs, including medicine, are exempt from the unilateral bans imposed on the country.

Nezam Mafi said some 50 major business deals are waiting for an expansion of funds through the SHTA.

SS