After western nations lifted nuclear sanctions against Iran, President Hassan Rouhani will head to Europe for his first state visit.
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The Airbus deal is the highlight of a visit to Rome and Paris this week by President Hassan Rouhani that is turning into a business bonanza.
In the Italian capital on January 25, the Iranian president is scheduled to hold talks with his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella, and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
After Italy, Rouhani will travel to France to meet French President Francois Hollande.
In Italy, the president may sign as many as a dozen accords with Italian companies, with the value of about €17 billion, according to a government official who requested anonymity to discuss the issue before an announcement.
In France, he’s expected to complete an agreement to buy 114 Airbus jets to upgrade Iran’s aging fleet, and may sign deals with carmakers Peugeot Citroen and Renault, according to Iranian reports.
“It’s time to turn the page and open the door to cooperation between our countries in different areas”, the official added. Iran bought its aircraft from Boeing when the US and Iran had close ties before the 1979 Islamic revolution. The two countries agreed to enhance cooperation including in fossil and renewable energy, transportation, railways, ports, industry, commerce and services, said the statement, published by Mehr news agency.
Naor Gilon, Israel’s top diplomat in Italy, said Iran’s hand was involved in several major regional political crises, including in Bahrain, Yemen and Lebanon, where Iranian-backed Hezbollah has been armed by Tehran with some 100,000 rockets and missiles. Some 130 firms took part ranging in sectors from agriculture to construction and tourism to lay the groundwork for the first business accords between the two countries since the nuclear deal. Rouhani said the countries had also agreed to cooperate on “terrorism and extremism in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen”.
He will also speak to a business group and meet Pope Francis during the visit. Italian officials hope to rebuild that to 3 billion in exports alone through 2018.
Xi’s tour, his first of the Middle East as China’s president, has also taken him to Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Riyadh and a number of its Sunni Arab allies broke diplomatic ties with Tehran this month after protesters angered by the execution of a prominent Shia cleric ransacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. As a result, US businesses still face a host of restrictions and American companies are not expected to enter the Iranian market in a major way.
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Germany, Italy and France have been leading the pack as Europe aims to increase trade with Tehran from the current level of €7.6bn (£5.8bn) a year to the pre-sanctions figure of nearly €28bn.
