March 20 (Reuters) – Switzerland on Friday said it would not issue licences for companies to export weapons to the United States due to the ongoing attacks on Iran, citing the country’s neutrality.
“The export of war materiel to countries involved in the international armed conflict with Iran cannot be authorised for the duration of the conflict,” the government said in a statement.
“Exports of war materiel to the USA cannot currently be authorised,” it added.
Last weekend, the Swiss government said it had rejected two U.S. flyover requests on Iran-related war flights but permitted three others, also citing Switzerland’s neutrality law.
Following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Switzerland imposed bans on flights over Swiss airspace and weapons exports to countries involved in the war. It later lifted them.
On Friday, the government said that since the Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran on February 28, no new licences had been issued for exports of war materiel to the United States.
It noted that no definitive licences for export of war materiel to Israel have been granted for several years.
The government said a group of experts would regularly review developments on exports of the relevant goods to the U.S. and assess whether steps are required under neutrality law.
(Reporting by Matthias Williams and Dave Graham, editing by Thomas Seythal)
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