Summoning of Swiss Chargé d'Affaires in Tehran to Protest Recent Comments by US Secretary of State

On Monday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that it summoned the Swiss Chargé d'Affaires in Tehran, acting as the protector of US interests, to convey the Islamic Republic's "strong" protest against the remarks made by the US Secretary of State regarding the country's support for a peaceful transition in the Iranian government. While Iran and the US do not have diplomatic relations, the Director General of the Iranian Foreign Ministry referenced "bilateral treaties" between the two countries during this meeting, calling the Secretary of State's comments "inconsistent" with these treaties. According to the state news agency IRNA, Bahram Qasemi, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, reported that Mohammad Keshavarzadeh, the director for American affairs at the ministry, summoned the Swiss Chargé d'Affaires to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, June 19, in the absence of the Swiss ambassador in Tehran. Mr. Qasemi stated that the Director General described the US Secretary of State's remarks as "interventionist and ill-considered" and formally communicated the Islamic Republic's "strong" protest to the Swiss Chargé d'Affaires. Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, had stated on Wednesday, June 14, in a House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting that the US policy supports "elements within Iran that lead to a peaceful transition of power in the country." He also labeled Iran as a factor of "instability" in the region and emphasized that "the US is acting against Iranian hegemony." The following day, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson condemned these remarks as "unacceptable," "immature and ill-considered," "interventionist," and a "clear violation of peremptory norms of international law." Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister, also described the US policy of supporting regime change in Iran as "delusional" and "failed." Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, reacted to these comments on Sunday, June 17, calling the new US administration "inexperienced thugs" who, according to him, "do not understand the Iranian people" and do not know what they are doing against Iran. Sadeq Amoli Larijani, the head of Iran's judiciary, also called for a "decisive response" to these remarks on Tuesday, adding that "some individuals within the country are signaling green lights to the enemies and creating temptation among them with certain signals. Some of these individuals are combatants and some are corrupt on earth." Prior to the judiciary chief's comments, about 70 prominent reformist figures, including Mostafa Tajzadeh, Mohsen Mir-Damadi, Saeed Hajarian, Saeed Madani, Hamid Reza Jalai-Pour, Jalal Jalalizadeh, Bahareh Hedayat, Bahman Ahmadi, and Zhila Bani-Yaghoub, had condemned the US Secretary of State's remarks. The Iranian Director General of American Affairs also stated that the Secretary of State's comments were "inconsistent with peremptory norms of international law and the international obligations of the US government, including the UN Charter and bilateral treaties with the Islamic Republic of Iran." Mr. Keshavarzadeh emphasized that the US government is "responsible for these remarks and must be held accountable for them." Last year, the Iranian government also referenced bilateral agreements in a detailed complaint to the International Court of Justice regarding the seizure of two billion dollars of Iranian assets in the US. The "Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations and Consular Rights" was signed between Iran and the US in 1955, and despite the severance of relations between the two countries, both parties reference it in international courts. The Iranian government's reference to this agreement comes at a time when some courts in the Islamic Republic have previously referred to the US government as a "hostile state."