Bern employs a neutrality policy that prohibits the sale of weapons to participants in military conflicts <\/p>\n
The Swiss government officially blocked the export of arms to the United States and other countries involved in the conflict with Iran on March 20, citing the country’s “neutrality” policy.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, referencing a press release from the Swiss government and Reuters.<\/p>\n
Also read: <\/strong>The U.S. is urgently deploying thousands of troops to the Middle East, – Reuters<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Swiss authorities explained that since the U.S. is involved in an international armed conflict, issuing new licenses for the sale of military materials is not possible under national law. The restrictions have been in place since the start of operations against Iran on February 28.<\/p>\n In addition to the complete ban on new supplies to the U.S., the government has instituted a regular review of existing licenses by a special group of experts. Similar export restrictions on arms have been in effect for several years regarding Israel and Iran itself.<\/p>\n Besides the arms embargo, Switzerland has begun to restrict the use of its airspace. Bern has already rejected two requests from Washington for military aircraft to fly over its territory for operations against Iran. Three other requests were approved as they did not violate neutrality legislation.<\/p>\n Switzerland implemented similar measures in 2003 after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. At that time, the country also blocked flights and the export of arms to states participating in the war.<\/p>\n Not only direct arms supplies are under strict scrutiny, but also dual-use goods. An interdepartmental group of experts will now regularly check all contracts for compliance with sanctions against Iran and the principles of neutrality.<\/p>\n On the other hand, despite the official bans, Swiss defense companies often employ circumvention mechanisms. This allows them to maintain a presence in global arms markets even under strict legislative restrictions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It is noteworthy that despite the government’s concerns, the Swiss Senate has relaxed strict controls on arms exports. This is intended to assist the country’s defense industry, which is becoming increasingly isolated.<\/p>\n The decision was made against the backdrop of a decline in arms exports from Switzerland for the second consecutive year in 2024, primarily due to the inability to supply arms to Ukraine.<\/p>\n Campaign against Iran: latest news<\/p>\n Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the United States has effectively won the war against Iran, although he emphasized that the operation is still ongoing and pressure on Tehran will continue.<\/p>\n According to a Reuters\/Ipsos poll, about 65% of Americans believe that President Donald Trump could decide to send troops to Iran, although only 7% of respondents support such a move.<\/p>\n It is already known that the U.S. is urgently deploying thousands of Marines and sailors to the Middle East, with some forces being sent weeks earlier than planned. For instance, an amphibious group led by the USS Boxer and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit departed from the U.S. West Coast ahead of schedule.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bern follows a policy of neutrality that prohibits the sale of weapons to participants in military conflicts. On March 20, the Swiss government officially blocked the export of arms to the United States and other countries involved in the conflict with Iran, citing the country’s policy of “neutrality.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"magazine_newspaper_sidebar_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-en"],"yoast_head":"\n