Former Italian PM to Visit Iran in Coming Days
(FNA)- Former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema plans to pay a visit to Tehran to confer with senior officials here on the latest regional and international developments and discuss ways to bolster the bilateral ties between Tehran and Rome.
D'Alema is also scheduled to deliver speech at the Political and International Studies Department of the Iranian Foreign Ministry on December 18.
D'Alema was Italian Prime Minister since 1998-2000 and served as foreign minister in 2006-2008.
Also, Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino has a plan to visit Tehran in the next few days.
Bonino’s visit will be the first official visit to Tehran by an Italian foreign minister after almost 10 years.
In 2004, Italy’s then Foreign Minister Franco Frattini visited Iran.
The Italian foreign minister will exchange views on regional and international issues during meetings with Iranian officials.
Bonino’s visit mainly aims at boosting commercial ties between Iran and Italy.
In mid-November, Bonino said if the sanctions on Iran are lifted or eased, the western countries, including Italy, will no doubt vie with each other to win the eye-catching advantages of Iran's great and lucrative market.
Speaking to the Italian newspaper Corriere della sera, Bonino said, "On September 26, there was a line of politicians and diplomats at the United Nation General Assembly in New York waiting to see (President) Hassan Rouhani and (Foreign Minister) Mohammad Javad Zarif. We had to wait for our turn to see them."
"I wanted to meet Zarif in Rome last Thursday, but the meeting was postponed. We are studying a program for direct cooperation with Iran which is not only on energy," the Italian top diplomat said.
Bonino said Italy was the first western country which underlined the importance of Rouhani's election as the president of Iran.
Late in June, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta expressed Rome's willingness to further expand its bilateral ties with Tehran during the tenure of President Rouhani.