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Switzerland closes inquiry into diplomat’s death in Iran

Swiss diplomat dead in Iran, MPC files inquiry
Swiss diplomat dead in Iran, MPC files inquiry Keystone-SDA

The investigation into the death of a Swiss diplomat in Iran in 2021 has been closed, according to the Office of the Attorney General.

The investigation provided a “clear picture” and no “criminal intervention by a third party” could be proven, the office indicated. The proceedings were therefore closed in early November.

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According to Tamedia Group newspapers, the Office suspects a case of suicide. However, the investigation was complicated by the absence of organs after an initial autopsy in Iran, it is pointed out.

When experts from the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Bern performed a second autopsy in Switzerland, the brain, heart, kidneys and parts of the spine were missing. Forensic examinations were unable to determine the exact cause of death but there were no signs of violence.

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The diplomat, a woman in her 50s employed by the Swiss embassy in Iran, died in 2021 in Tehran. The National Rescue Service said she had “fallen from a high-rise building in Kamranieh,” a residential neighbourhood in the north of the capital. She fell from the 17th floor of the building where she lived.

Adapted from Italian by DeepL/ac

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