Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) has said in a statement that a female diplomat passed away in northern Tehran on Tuesday as a result of an accident.
"The FDFA confirms that a Swiss employee of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran died in a fatal accident [….]. The FDFA and its head Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis are shocked by the tragic death and express their deepest condolences to the family", the statement pointed out.
The department added that they were in contact with the woman's family and local authorities in Iran. The woman's name was not disclosed.
🇮🇷🇨🇭A senior employee at the #Swiss embassy in #Tehran died on Tuesday after falling from a high-rise building.The member of staff was a 51-year-old woman & was the second-highest ranked employee at the embassy and had lived on the 18th floor of the building#Switzerland #Iran pic.twitter.com/o62Q84SPW0
— Dailyaz (@dailyaz1) May 4, 2021
The statement comes after emergency services spokesperson Mojtaba Khaledi told Iran's semi-official news agency Mehr that the woman who died after falling from a high-rise building in Tehran on Tuesday was "the first secretary of the Swiss Embassy" in the Iranian capital.
#Breaking from Tehran
— InteliGirl (@girl_inteli) May 4, 2021
Swiss embassy senior employee in #Iran "Found Dead". The cause of death is declared "falling from 18th floorof an Apartment in Kamraniye district".
🇨🇭 has represented 🇺🇸 diplomatic interests in 🇮🇷 since 1979 & She was actively involved in Nuclear Talks. pic.twitter.com/nQ4FCqmdQ9
Khaledi said the woman's body was found by a gardener after an employee who arrived at her apartment earlier on Tuesday discovered that she was missing. According to him, "the cause of her fall has yet to be determined".
Some Iranian media reports claimed that she was 52, while others put her age at 51.
US-Iranian Ties
Switzerland has represented US diplomatic interests in Iran since Washington and Tehran severed relations shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Tensions further escalated in January 2020, when top Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani, was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad authorised by then-President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has signalled its willingness to rejoin the JCPOA, with Tehran stressing that it will only comply with the deal after all US sanctions against Iran are lifted.
