Piling more pressure on the Iranian government to reach an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency over its nuke drive, the Swiss Federal Council has decided to tighten sanctions against Iran.

The move brings Switzerland largely in line with the restrictive measures imposed on Tehran by the European Union on 23 January, 15 March and 23 March 2012. For foreign policy reasons, transactions involving Iranian oil and petrochemical products have not been prohibited as in the EU, but they are instead subject to a declaration requirement, said the Swiss Ministry of Economics in a press release.

The new measures will come into effect on 6 July 2012.

The ordinance amendment adopted by the Federal Council on 4 July 2012 contains a ban on supplying equipment to the Iranian petrochemical industry, a ban on financing in this domain, a ban on the purchase and sale of precious metals and diamonds by Iranian state authorities, a ban on the supply of equipment that could be used in internet or telecommunications surveillance and an extension of the obligation to obtain authorization for the transfer of funds to cash transactions. The current lists of dual-use goods whose export to Iran is prohibited or subject to authorization have been modified. Financial sanctions have been imposed against 78 individuals accused of serious human rights violations.

The import, purchase, sale and shipment of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and petrochemical products as well as related financial and insurance transactions must be declared to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

Transactions of this kind have been banned in the EU since 1 July 2012. Switzerland has imported no crude oil from Iran since 2006. The Federal Council may decide to take further measures based on reports received. SECO must now also be notified of the supply of new bank notes and coins to the Iranian Central Bank.

Switzerland has applied all binding international sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council since 2007. In addition to adopting UN sanctions, Switzerland has, since 19 January 2011, also adopted most of the further reaching sanctions adopted by the EU.