November 19, 2007 (LPAC)--In an interview with Neue Zuercher Zeitung Sunday, Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey, the former foreign minister, for the first time tells more about the mediation by Switzerland in the Iran conflict. "The Iran dossier has entered a decisive phase: some of the concerned countries are threatening harsher sanctions, if Iran does not stop uranium enrichment. At the center there is the demand by the UN Security Council that Iran suspend uranium enrichment-as a precondition of talks. Iran is not willing to meet this demand."

"On the one hand, the issue is the right of the member states of the non-proliferation treaty, including also Iran, to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes, on the other hand, the insistence by the UN Security Council that member states respect the obligation to drop nuclear weapons plans. So far, that is the present situation. Now, to your question why Switzerland is getting engaged here."

"How could a country like Switzerland not get engaged? I watch the Iran conflict with great concern. If it escalates further, it can have unpredictable consequences- also for us. I do not only think of the economic consequences for our exporting industry. In case a war broke out, millions of human beings could be affected. It is in the interest of Switzerland to get engaged here."

Johann Aeschlimann, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said Sunday that "Switzerland is interested in a negotiated solution of the Iran nuclear issue and is engaged toward a reconciliation of the differences between Iran and the international community."