Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will travel to Iran next week for a two-day trip that will make him the first major leader to visit since the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran, AFP reported.
Renzi’s office said in a statement that the centre-left leader would visit Iran on April 12-13 without giving further details of his itinerary.
Italy has led the way amongst European countries in re-establishing economic ties to Iran following the lifting of international sanctions imposed over concerns the country was seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capacity.
Renzi’s trip follows Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Italy and France at the end of January — a trip which resulted in a string of major trade and investment deals being signed between Tehran and the two European countries.
Contracts worth an estimated 17 billion euros ($18 billion) were signed in Rome and Rouhani said he hoped that would represent only a start, as he pitched Iran as a safe base for investors looking to get into a regional market of 300 million consumers.
Iran has said it wants European help to modernize and expand its rail, road and air networks as well as seeking investment to boost its manufacturing base, notably in the automobile sector.
Italy was Iran’s largest European trade partner before the impact of sanctions caused exchanges between the two countries to collapse.
Six major European countries announced on Friday that they would join a special trade exchange designed to alleviate the impact of the US sanctions on Iran. Belgium, Denmark, Finland,...
China, Iran to forge closer ties due to common threat from United States, analysts say
French minister criticises US over ‘unanswered’ Iran attacks
Islam has the best argument in support of human rights: Judiciary chief
UN adopts eight resolutions in condemnation of Israeli crimes in Palestine
Trump’s maximum pressure policy on Iran has backfired and experts say it will fail
S. Korea’s exports of humanitarian goods to Iran effectively halted after U.S. sanctions
Copyright © 2013 Real Iran. powered by Wordpress.