Switzerland warns of Iran threat as diplomats' deaths re-examined
The warning comes after an investigation re-examined the mysterious deaths of embassy staff and a tourist in the Islamic Republic.
The Federal Intelligence Service listed Iran alongside Russia, China and North Korea as states that had intensified intelligence activity against Switzerland.
It said Switzerland's role representing US interests in Tehran 'increases the visibility of Swiss personnel to hostile service'.
The warning followed an investigation by the Swiss broadcasters SRF and RTS that examined four deaths in Iran – a diplomat's fall from a balcony, a military attaché's sudden illness, a local employee of the Swiss embassy who was stabbed and shot in the hand while walking to work, and a Swiss tourist's alleged suicide in prison.
Sylvie Brunner, a diplomat, fell from the 17th floor of her Tehran flat in May 2021. Iranian authorities ruled it suicide, citing mental-health problems.
But in the investigation by SRF and RTS, a man who identified himself as a former officer in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) alleged that the diplomat was pushed after a surveillance operation went awry.
Initial Iranian emergency responder statements about insufficient evidence for suicide were later retracted, and the official responsible was removed.
Ms Brunner's brother said Iranian security agents had visited her apartment before her death, deliberately leaving boot prints.
A suicide note was found, but was unsigned. Her body was returned without major organs, preventing comprehensive toxicology tests. A Swiss pathologist said suicide was 'plausible' but could not exclude involvement of others.
In 2023, a Swiss military attaché suddenly fell ill in Tehran and was transferred to Switzerland in a coma before dying in hospital.
The investigation revealed he was actually a covert intelligence officer. Experts suggested he may have been identified and poisoned during operations in Iran.
A former Iranian intelligence officer told a Swiss broadcaster: 'My colleagues in the IRGC intelligence unit openly talked about the death of the Swiss female diplomat. They said it was an operation by IRGC intelligence that resulted in murder – a spy mission that went wrong.'
In another incident around the embassy, a local employee was stabbed and shot in the hand while walking to work. Tehran police blamed a robbery, an explanation Swiss analysts say is rare in the heavily policed capital.
In a fourth case, a Swiss tourist in his 60s was arrested for espionage earlier this year after allegedly photographing a military site and collecting soil samples. Iranian authorities announced two months later he had committed suicide in Semnan prison.
Swiss officials were denied access during his detention. After his body was returned, an autopsy was performed but results have not been released.
An Iranian judiciary spokesman said the Swiss embassy staff had 'confirmed' their citizen's suicide in prison.
Increased risks due to regional conflict
Swiss officials now consider the cases linked. A Swiss security source cited IRGC 'paranoia', saying Iran viewed the Swiss embassy as a CIA infiltration point.
Since 1980, Switzerland has represented US interests in Iran, handling consular affairs and passing messages between Washington and Tehran. The role makes Swiss diplomats prime surveillance targets, former intelligence officials said.
The intelligence service warned that regional conflict had increased risks of 'direct pressure' on Swiss personnel abroad.
Switzerland's foreign ministry said it 'continues to seek full clarity' but lacks investigative authority in Iran.
The attorney general closed its criminal probe into Ms Brunner's death in November due to lack of evidence.
Opposition lawmakers said they would raise the deaths at parliament's next foreign affairs committee meeting. No date has been provided for the meeting.
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I felt a lot safer in Israel under Iranian attack than I do back home in Britain
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Ever since Saddam Hussein fired 42 Scud missiles at Israel during the 1991 Gulf War, Jerusalem has been working assiduously to defend its people against all forms of air attack. Thirty four years of research and development and tactical and technical innovation accompanied by heavy financial investment has more than paid off in the face of missile and drone attacks from Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Israel's strategy is not just to meet threats from the air but to overmatch them, and the IDF continues to work flat out to maintain its qualitative edge as its enemies learn from their own failures. Now I'm back home in Britain, and to be honest I don't feel nearly as safe as I did in Israel under active attack. The UK has made almost no effort in this sphere and today we are undefended against all but the most limited forms of attack. What defences we do have are too few to cover much of our territory. Our only protection against ballistic missiles is the Royal Navy's six Type 45 destroyers, armed with Sea Viper anti-air missiles – just two of these ships are typically available for duty. Even their capabilities are limited compared to the Israeli equivalent: HMS Diamond did shoot down an Iranian ballistic missile fired by the Houthis last year, but Sea Viper is not meant to be capable of ballistic intercept and the enemy weapon was probably quite basic: of the type often dubbed 'quasi ballistic'. If one of our aircraft carriers sails across the world, as is the case today, she takes a destroyer with her and we are down to one to protect the UK. Aside from our one available destroyer, a few RAF quick response fighters can be launched to intercept enemy planes, cruise missiles and drones. The Army has a few batteries of short-range air defence missiles. We do not have any up and running airborne radar systems, meaning that we have very limited ability to detect low-flying incoming threats. Our combined defences don't come anywhere close to meeting the threat we face today. The UK homeland can easily be struck by a range of Russian missiles – ballistic, cruise, hypersonics and drones – fired from Russia itself or from its aircraft, ships or submarines. There is a man in the Kremlin who has proved his willingness to use the weapons against military targets as well as population centres, and has already ordered lethal attacks of a different type against civilians in our country. I wonder if Keir Starmer realised that, and our inability to effectively defend against such strikes, when he led with his chin on heading a 'coalition of the willing' against Russia. Perhaps he has realised now and maybe that explains why he's gone so quiet. But it only gets worse. Within 15 years ballistic missiles fired from anywhere in the world will likely be able to hit targets anywhere else in the world: such systems have already been tested. Unless our capabilities improve dramatically, we will be comprehensively deterred from any unilateral action, no matter how vital it may be. The Israelis also understand something else we seem to have forgotten: attack is the best form of defence. During the twelve day war they didn't just rely on their interceptors but, using combat planes, ships and drones, they relentlessly struck at Iran's launchers, knocking out at least half of them – as well as missile and drone stocks and production facilities. Meanwhile our Attorney General, Lord Hermer, reportedly advised Starmer that Britain's participation in these operations would be illegal. Churchill received no such advice when he launched a 600 bomber raid against the German V-weapon missile development site at Peenemunde in 1943 and then, Israel-style, proceeded to pummel warehouses, storage facilities, rail tracks and launch sites connected with the V-weapons. As well as re-discovering the political spine necessary to defend ourselves, we need to rapidly build up our missile defences. That's not going to be achieved by decades of the glacial procurement processes for which the Ministry of Defence is infamous. It would be a good idea to follow the German example of buying Arrow off the shelf from Israel. But wait, the Government has an arms embargo against the Israelis. Perhaps, however, we should not be listening to the pro-Hamas hordes on our streets (just four per cent of Brits supported Hamas in a YouGov poll in March, while over half said they had at least some sympathy for Israel). We might rather consider our own national security interests instead of performatively attacking an ally in need – an ally that can also help us. It's past time for joined up strategic thinking plus some Churchillian 'action this day'.
