Switzerland has blocked any new sales of arms to the United States, invoking its policy of strict neutrality toward countries involved in armed conflict.
“The export of war materiel to countries involved in the international armed conflict with Iran cannot be authorized for the duration of the conflict,” the government said in a statement on Friday. “Exports of war materiel to the USA cannot currently be authorized.”
The United States is the second-biggest market for Swiss arms after Germany, buying military goods worth 94.2 million francs (approximately $120 million) in 2025. The suspension applies to at least a part of SIG Sauer, a major small arms maker based in both Switzerland and Germany. Its guns are sold in the United States and are heavily used by the U.S. military and law enforcement agencies.
The government said it had not issued any new licenses for arms exports to the United States since the war began on Feb. 28, and an interdepartmental body will regularly review such sales to see if any action is required under Swiss neutrality laws.
Sales under previously granted licenses can continue.
The government noted it had not licensed arms exports to Israel or Iran for a number of years.
Switzerland has had close diplomatic ties to the United States, managing its consular interests in Iran through the Swiss mission in Tehran and providing a venue for two rounds of nuclear negotiations with Iran in February as well as for negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.
But Swiss neutrality rules also prompted its government to deny two U.S. requests earlier this week for reconnaissance aircraft to overfly its airspace. It allowed a request for overflight by three other American aircraft, which it said involved two transport planes and a maintenance aircraft.
“The law on neutrality prohibits overflights by parties to the conflict that serve a military purpose related to the conflict,” the government said. “Permitted are humanitarian and medical transits, including the transport of wounded persons, as well as overflights that are unrelated to the conflict.”
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