Iran summons Swiss ambassador over critical tweet

The embassy’s tweet on Friday included an image of people holding up a portrait of Amini and a pre-1979 revolution Iranian flag with a lion in the centre. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

Swiss ambassador to Iran Nadine Olivieri Lozano was summoned by the Iranian foreign ministry following a tweet by the Embassy on Friday that condemned three executions and included the image of a pre-1979 revolution Iranian flag.

The ambassador has been summoned “following the interventionist position of Switzerland in the internal affairs of our country,” said the Iranian foreign ministry in a statement, according to a report on a website affiliated with Iran’s state television called YJC.ir.

+ Protests test Switzerland’s special status with Iran

The Swiss embassy in Iran published a tweet on Friday condemning the executions of three men in connection with protests last autumn that erupted in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini. The young Kurdish woman had been arrested for flouting the rules governing Islamic attire in the country. Her family says she was the victim of police aggression before her death.

The Iranian foreign ministry said it blamed the Swiss embassy for the “unconventional and unprofessional act of republishing a photo with a false flag” of Iran. The embassy’s tweet on Friday included an image of people holding up a portrait of Amini and a pre-1979 revolution Iranian flag with a lion in the centre.

In the tweet, the embassy said that “Switzerland urges Iran to stop these executions and to take steps to reduce the use of the death penalty”.

The same message was published in English, French and German on the accounts of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). The message referred to a page on the FDFA website presenting “Switzerland’s stance on the protests in Iran”.

During her convocation, the ambassador was “informed of the level of dissatisfaction” of the Iranian authorities, and of the fact that such an attitude was “not compatible with the friendly relations” that Iran and Switzerland maintain, according to the statement.

In February, Ambassador Lozano faced an onslaught of online criticism for wearing a chador, a full-body-length piece of Islamic clothing, while visiting a Shiite holy city in the Islamic Republic. Some observers complained that the ambassador’s clothing choice looked like a sign of support for the Iranian regime. The foreign ministry rejected the criticism.

Switzerland has had a special status with Iran for decades. Five of Switzerland’s seven protecting power mandates are with Iran. The Swiss government has been representing US interests in Iran since the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington in 1980.