Mysterious deaths and attacks hit the Swiss Embassy in Iran – RTS.CH

At the heart of Tehran, a discreet plate struck by the Swiss badge signals the entrance to a building to the singular function: the Swiss Embassy, ​​section of foreign interests. This is where Swiss diplomats manage, on behalf of Washington, the affairs of the United States in Iran. A quasi-Ambassade US … in a country that considers America as its sworn enemy.

With the Iran-Israel war, this same embassy plays a key communication role between the mullah regime and the West. The Swiss ambassador was thus summoned to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the first day of Israeli attacks. The embassy has since been evacuated.

In May 2021, Sylvie Brunner, number 2 of the Swiss representation of American interests in Iran, was found dead at the foot of her building. Suicide, according to Iranian and Swiss authorities. The diplomat would have thrown herself from 17^e floor of the building. However, many gray areas remain.

Sylvie had told me about these intrusions. She was convinced to be under telephone listening by the Iranian secret services. I told her to put alarms and look with the embassy for more secure accommodation, in vain

Sylvie Brunner held a very exposed position, in connection with the negotiations between Americans and Iranians. She had access to confidential information and documents. According to a development investigation, the diplomat had received threats before her death. Sylvie Brunner complained of intrusions at her home in Tehran, at least two times. During these intrusions in her apartment, she had noted the presence of traces of shoes and other disturbing elements. She found objects and foods in an ostentatious way on the table of her kitchen, leaving little doubt about the presence of intruders in her apartment. Sylvie Brunner had even bought a bedside book with the evocative title: There is someone in my house.

For Vincent Brunner, her sister was worried: “Sylvie had told me about these intrusions. She was convinced to be on telephone listening by the Iranian secret services. I told her to put alarms and look with the embassy for more secure accommodation, to no avail.”

Sylvie Brunner informed her hierarchy of these threats. Acts of intimidation deemed serious enough for the Swiss Embassy to alerted the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially. Sylvie Brunner died a few months later.

Case classified at the end of 2024

In Switzerland, an investigation by the public prosecutor of the Confederation was carried out. The case was classified at the end of 2024. The authorities concluded that suicide. This decision is based on two determining elements. The first: a violent argument with his ex-spouse, which occurred by phone and by messages the same evening of death. The victim was going through a difficult sentimental period. The second: a handwritten note, written in English, found in the deceased apartment.

The message was scribbled on a leaf torn from a cheap notebook. On the one hand, the code of his phone; On the other hand, a few words in English: it is a question of repatriating the body to Switzerland, carrying out a cremation, and to bequeath all of his property to a loved one.

No word for her son, none for his mother or brother. No explanation as to a possible act. The note is neither signed nor dated. Swiss investigators never had access to the original document held by the Iranian police. They had to settle for a poor quality photo. The graphological expertise made it possible to bring writing closer to that of Sylvie Brunner, with a degree of certainty estimated at four on a scale of six.

The Swiss justice investigation was summary, no Swiss policeman was able to go to Iran. Only an employee of the embassy was able to visit Sylvie Brunner’s apartment after her death. He found sensitive documents from the embassy there at his home. He was able to recover them, as well as the professional and computer phone of the diplomat. The images of the outer surveillance cameras of the building could not be consulted because they did not work that evening.

Incomplete repatriated body

Development was able to obtain the two autopsies made in Switzerland. It appears that the evaluation capacity of forensic doctists has also been very limited. The repatriated body was incomplete, some bodies were not returned by the Iranian authorities. It was missing, among other things, the brain, the heart and a kidney. Why has Iran not transmitted the body in its entirety? This situation is without medical, religious or cultural explanation.

With the elements analyzed by autopsies in Switzerland, there is nothing that contradicts the thesis of suicide, but there is also nothing that contradicts the thesis of a violent act with the intervention of a third party

In the focus report, the opinion of the medical examiner, Patrice Mangin, former director of the French-speaking university center for legal medicine, was asked: “With the elements analyzed by the autopsies in Switzerland, there is nothing that contradicts the suicide thesis, but there is also nothing that contradicts the thesis of a violent act with the intervention of a third party. trace.”

To add a part of mystery, the spokesperson for the Iranian rescue services, Mojaba Khalidi, said the day after the death that suicide was not a possible cause of death. This official speech cost him his post, and even earned him an indictment in court. Since then, the Iranian authorities claim that the death of Sylvie Brunner is a suicide.

Disturbing testimony

In order to obtain more information, Development met a former Iranian intelligence services agent. To guarantee its anonymity and safety, the interview was held in a parking basement, somewhere in Germany. This ex-agent, who recently fled Iran and obtained political asylum, was stationed at the time of the death of Sylvie Brunner.

In my service, it was admitted that the death of the Swiss diplomat had been caused by the guards of the revolution

The former agent said: “I was in Iran in 2021 during the death of the Swiss diplomat. I worked as an executive at the Ministry of Intelligence. It was one of the branches of Iranian information. Internally, everyone was talking about the diplomat case. It was a murder, in any case, a spy operation that went wrong.”

However, he specifies that it is not the Ministry of Intelligence, his former employer, who would be responsible for the death of the diplomat. He points to the Guardians of the Revolution, a more radical branch of the Iranian State, placed directly under the orders of the Supreme Guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “In my service, it was admitted that the death of the Swiss diplomat had been caused by the Guardians of the Revolution.”

The man has no documented evidence, it is therefore advisable to take his claims with caution. But his words add a part of doubt about the case. Contacted, the Iranian Embassy in Bern did not wish to comment on these elements. On the other hand, the public prosecutor of the Confederation affirms that “the Swiss investigation provided a clear image and, among other things, could not support a suspicion of diculous intervention of thirds. It is for this reason that the MPC has made a classification order”.

Find the full investigation Sunday evening at 8:00 p.m.

Francoian Doux