The consultations were chaired by Pascale Baeriswyl, State Secretary of the FDFA, and Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs. On the Swiss side, senior representatives of SECO, the SEM and SIF also took part. During the bilateral part of the meeting, the road map adopted in 2016 was assessed. Despite difficult underlying conditions it has been implemented successfully, as exemplified by the stepping up of discussions on agriculture and science. The road map has now been extended to cover water cooperation and health.
The delegations also discussed security issues and the conflict zones in the Middle East, in particular regional tensions and possible ways to decrease them.
As part of the judicial and human rights dialogues, the delegations also exchanged information on criminal law relating to young offenders. The representatives of the Iranian judiciary visited a facility for young male offenders in Uitikon.
State Secretary Baeriswyl and Deputy Foreign Minister Araghchi also signed an agreement on the assumption of a protecting power mandate by Switzerland in Canada. This mandate does not include consular services. With this agreement Switzerland emphasises its commitment to good offices in the region.
Address for enquiries:
FDFA Information
Federal Palace West Wing
CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 58 462 31 53
E-mail: info@eda.admin.ch
Twitter: @SwissMFA
