GENEVA, Jan 16, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Switzerland on Thursday summoned Iran's ambassador in Bern to voice its "greatest concern" over his country's crackdown on nationwide protests, which activists say has left thousands dead, a foreign ministry official said.

With the summons, Switzerland's foreign ministry had wanted to convey that "we don't understand such violence", Monika Schmutz Kirgoz, who heads the ministry's Middle East and North Africa division told the RTS public broadcaster.

Iran was shaken over the last week by some of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the Islamic republic, although the demonstrations appear to have diminished over the last few days in the face of repression and an almost week-long internet blackout.

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO said on Wednesday that Iranian security forces had killed at least 3,428 protesters, warning that the final toll would be far higher.

Iranian authorities have lashed out at "rioters" who they claimed were backed by Israel and the United States, vowing fast-track justice that activists fear will translate into a spree of executions.

When Switzerland on Thursday joined a number of other European nations in summoning their Iranian ambassador in condemnation of the crackdown, it had expressed "our greatest concern regarding the violence we have witnessed perpetrated by the Iranian security forces", Schmutz Kirgoz said.

Bern had also reiterated that "we are firmly and strongly opposed to any form of the death penalty", she added.

US President Donald Trump had threatened military action against Iran should it carry out the death penalty against people arrested over the protests, although he appeared to back away from that option on Wednesday.

The foreign ministry in Switzerland, which has represented US interests in Iran since relations were cut in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution, also highlighted other diplomatic efforts underway.

The ministry told AFP in an email that Iran's national security council secretary Ali Larijani spoke by phone Wednesday to senior Swiss diplomat Gabriel Luechinger.

Bern offered in the talks to "contribute to the de-escalation of the current situation", the ministry said, without providing further details.