Israel has summoned the new Swiss ambassador, Walter Haffner, to the Foreign Ministry to lodge a protest against a deal between the Swiss energy company EGL and the state-owned National Iranian Gas Export Company to buy 5.5 billion cubic meters of Iranian natural gas per year – a deal estimated to be worth between US$ 28-42 billion. Haffner went to the Foreign Ministry from Beit Hanassi, where he had just submitted his credentials to Israel’s president Shimon Peres.
Rafi Barak, the ministry's deputy director-general in charge of its Western European department, told Haffner that Israel viewed Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey's trip to Tehran earlier this week as an "unfriendly" act toward Israel. Barak told the new envoy that in light of new UN Security Council sanctions against Iran for continuing to enrich uranium, and at a time when the international community was working to get Iran to abandon its nuclear program, Israel did not believe this was the time to promote business ties with Teheran.
Iran, Barak said during the meeting, continued with its nuclear program, assisted extremist organizations, supported terrorism, tramples human rights and denied a fellow UN nation’s right to exist. "Switzerland and the entire international community are aware of the dangers from Iran," Barak was quoted as saying by the ‘Jerusalem Post’ adding "Israel expects Switzerland to enlist in the international efforts on this matter."
