(Al Jazeera Media Network) Switzerland has said it will not issue licences for companies to export weapons to the United States due to the ongoing war on Iran, citing the country’s longstanding principle of 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 on Friday.
“Exports of war materiel to the USA cannot currently be authorised,” it added.
The announcement comes as the US-Israeli war on Iran nears the three-week mark, spurring a deepening humanitarian crisis across the wider Middle East and sending global energy prices soaring.
It follows a decision by the Swiss government to close its airspace to US military flights directly linked to the Iran war.
Last weekend, it said it had rejected two US flyover requests on Iran-related war flights but permitted three others, also citing Switzerland’s neutrality law.
Exports of dual-use and specific military goods will also be regularly reviewed by the expert group.
“A restrictive approach is already in place with regard to Israel,” the government said.
The US was the second-largest importer of Swiss arms last year, according to government data, with sales worth $119 million.
The Swiss government had previously blocked allied nations from sending Swiss-made equipment to Ukraine, which is fighting a Russian invasion that began in 2022.
Following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Switzerland imposed bans on flights over Swiss airspace and weapons exports to countries involved in the war but later lifted them.
