Switzerland announces halt to weapons exports to US amid Iran war

Move comes as Swiss government also closed its airspace to US military flights directly linked to the Iran-war" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="38748" data-entity-type="event">Iran war.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.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Iran does not need to close the Strait of Hormuz to disrupt itlist 2 of 3Iran today, Africa tomorrowlist 3 of 3Israel says it hit Syrian Army camps in the south after Druze ‘attacked’end of list“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 also follows a decision by the Swiss government to close its airspace to US military flights directly linked to the Iran-war" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="38748" data-entity-type="event">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.A Swiss federal act, approved in 1996, stipulates that the import, export and transit of war materiel and related technology require export licences based on the principles of human rights and neutrality.Since the Iran-war" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="38748" data-entity-type="event">Iran war began on February 28, Switzerland said no new export licences were issued to ⁠the US.The government also noted that no definitive licences for exports of war materiel to Israel have been granted for several years and the same applies to Iran.Existing US licences will now face regular review by a group of experts to assess whether steps are required under the neutrality law, it said.