Geneva [Switzerland], January 16: Switzerland has offered to mediate between the United States and Iran.
The head of the International Security Department at the Swiss Foreign Ministry, Gabriel Lüchinger, spoke on the phone with the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, the ministry confirmed on Thursday.
"During this conversation, Gabriel Lüchinger offered Switzerland's good offices to help de-escalate the current situation," the ministry said.
Since the start of the mass protests against the authoritarian regime of the Islamic Republic a good two weeks ago, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with US intervention.
Switzerland represents the interests of the United States in Iran because the US has not had diplomatic representation there since 1980, following the overthrow of the US-backed shah in 1979 and the taking of US hostages..
Switzerland maintains a so-called interests section in Tehran, which provides consular protection to US citizens.
In Zurich, as in many other cities around the world, people took to the streets to show solidarity with the demonstrators in Iran.
According to human rights groups, the security authorities are using brutal force against them. There is talk of more than 3,000 deaths.
These figures cannot currently be independently verified.
Source: Qatar Tribune
