President Hassan Rouhani has said during a telephone conversation with his Swiss counterpart on Tuesday, President Guy Parmelin that cooperation between the two countries can be promoted through upgrading joint bilateral economic committees.

Meanwhile, Rouhani called for activating the Swiss financial channel to help further the joint contracts that were halted due to the policies of the previous US administration. The remark might be an indication of efforts to lift some of the barriers blocking Iran's international trade.

It is not clear if the two sides reached any practical agreements during the telephone conversation or who initiated the contact. It is also not clear if the move has the blessing of the Biden administration.

Iran’s economy is in a bad state, with its oil exports under sanctions and it appears desperate to reduce sanctions former President Donald Trump imposed in 2018 when he withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Earlier Iran and Switzerland made an overture about the financial channel when the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA) was made in October 2019 and finalized in February 2020 between US and Swiss officials to allow sending food and medicine to Iran.

Subsequently, Switzerland announced on July 27, 2020 that a Swiss pharmaceutical company had completed the first transaction under the new humanitarian trade channel with Iran.

At the time, some Iranian officials said the transaction was too small to help Iran circumvent the sanctions imposed on the country by the United States following President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

Rouhani said during the conversation with his Swiss counterpart that despite the US sanctions Iran and Switzerland have had good cooperation in the areas of transportation, health and medicine, agriculture and technology.

He also said that renegotiating the nuclear deal would be impossible as it is against UN Resolution 2231. He added: "Iran's stance regarding the JCPOA is quite clear and the lifting of US sanctions in practice can guarantee our return to the obligations we have reduced", following the US pull-out from the JCPOA.

"The ball is in the United States court," Rouhani repeated his formulaic statement once more, adding that "Everything will be back on the right track as soon as the illegal sanctions on Iran are lifted."

According to the Iranian official news agency IRNA, President Parmelin said that Swiss companies have been active in Iran regardless of the US sanctions. He also promised to transfer Iran's assets in some countries to the Swiss financial channel. However, he did not name those countries, nor did he elaborate on the amount of the Iranian assets that are going to be released in this way. This would be highly unlikely without the lifting of US banking sanctions or explicit permission by Washington.

Iran has always complained about its blocked assets in South Korea, China, India and other countries after the imposition of full US banking and oil export sanctions.

Meanwhile, according to IRNA, Parmelin said the situation was ripe for all the JCPOA partners to return to their obligations and that Switzerland was prepared to help them in this connection.

Switzerland runs the US interest section in Iran at its embassy in Tehran and it has been the link for Tehran and Washington to exchange key messages. The role included brokering the release of hostages on both sides. In September, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo thanked Switzerland for its role in releasing some prisoners.

The timing of the remarks could indicate that Switzerland is trying to play an active part in a possible rapprochement between Teran and Washington.