Swiss Official to Discuss His Country's Role as U.S. Representative in Iran

November 18, 2011 — Switzerland's deputy chief of mission, Guillaume Scheurer, will discuss his country's role as the United States' representative in Iran on Nov. 28 at the University of Virginia. The talk comes just weeks after the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report saying Tehran is inching closer to nuclear weapon capability.

The presentation, which begins at 5 p.m. in the Rotunda's Dome Room, is part of the University's Ambassador Speaker's Forum and is free and open to the public. The series is sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for International Programs and U.Va.'s Center for International Studies.

The U.S. and Iran do not have diplomatic relations. Politically neutral Switzerland has represented U.S. interests in Tehran since 1980.

The IAEA, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog group, released a report Nov. 8 listing a series of activities, including explosives testing, it said could lead to the development of a nuclear weapons program in Iran. The Islamic republic, which signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1970, denies it is developing nuclear weapons.

Friday at the International Atomic Energy Agency's meeting in Vienna, the U.S. called upon Iran to come clean. The U.S. ambassador to the talks, Glyn Davies, said, "There is little doubt that Iran, at the very least, wants to position itself for a nuclear weapons capability."

— By Jane Kelly

Media Contact

Jane Kelly

Office of University Communications