Switzerland appears to have acted out of concern that the EU might restrict sales to Switzerland if Switzerland did not adopt tougher sanctions. EU officials have expressed concern that some European firms were exporting goods to Switzerland and then re-exporting them to Iran, using Switzerland to evade the EU rules.
Switzerland announced last Wednesday that as of January 20 it would apply the same restrictions on dealing with Iran that the EU has in force.
It isn’t known how much this will reduce Swiss trade with Iran. Last year, Switzerland reported exporting goods worth $730 million to Iran.