The Swiss Foreign Minister, who has traveled to our country for a three-day visit, inaugurated the "Exhibition of Documents of 100 Years of Iran-Switzerland Diplomatic Relations" on Sunday, September 6, 2020, at the Negarestan Palace. At the beginning of the ceremony, Dr. Nili Ahmadabadi, President of the University of Tehran (UT), while welcoming the Swiss Foreign Minister and the accompanying delegations, mentioned the history of cooperation and exchanges between the University of Tehran and Swiss universities and scientific and cultural centers in recent years. He also announced UT's willingness to develop scientific relations between the two countries.
Referring to his visit to Isfahan and Tehran and the rich and glorious history of Iran, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said, "This exhibition testifies to the friendship between Iran and Switzerland. Iran is surrounded by historical assets. Friendly and trade relations were established many years before political relations. Friendship and trade have been two strongly ongoing characteristics in our relations all these years." Emphasizing the impact of diplomacy and dialogue on improving relations between the two countries, the Swiss Foreign Minister said, "Diplomats build bridges for trust and dialogue, a feature that has been repeated over the past 100 years in Iran-Switzerland diplomatic relations. Our goal has always been to advance the interests of both parties For 40 years, we have maintained consular services and delivered messages quickly and reliably. This trust gives us the ability to rely on each other in critical situations...Education, culture, good offices, disaster relief, and human rights: These five pillars of our 100-year-old relationship cannot survive without continuous dialogue."
Dr. Sajjadpour, Deputy Foreign Minister and Head of the Center for Political and International Studiesreferring to the existence of fifty million historical documents in the Documentation Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our country said: Examining the historical documents of Iran-Switzerland relations mentioned three characteristics of interest and attractiveness of the two nations to each other in various fields such as education, art, music, and diplomacy. Not only theoretical diplomacy but also practical Swiss diplomacies such as neutrality and humanistic ideas has been attractive to Iran. Although Iran, like Switzerland, declared neutrality during the two world wars, this neutrality was not observed and respected by the great powers. Mediation and bridge construction in various dimensions is the second characteristic of the relations between the two countries. Switzerland cooperated with Iran not only in the bridge-building industry but also in diplomatic bridge-building, not only as a bridge between Iran and the United States for the past 40 yearsbut also as a bridge between Iran and Germany to save Iranians livings during the French occupation. "The third characteristic of the relations between the two countries is cooperation in various issues of social, political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian aid and we hope that this multidimensional relationship will continue as wide, deep, and friendly as possible."
The exhibition, which displayed documents and photographs of political, economic, and cultural relations between the two countries over the past century, was held with the participation of the Documentation Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the University of Tehran, and the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.
A limited number of scientific, artistic, cultural, and sports personalities, as well as Dr. Hanachi, the mayor of Tehran, were also present at the ceremony.
