Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signed a series of bilateral accords in Tehran on Tuesday, signaling their desire to restore ties after this year’s implementation of the Iran nuclear deal.
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In its steps announced on Tuesday, Italy said its state-run lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti would offer credit lines of 4 billion euros for deals in Iran’s oil-and-gas and transport infrastructure and export agency SACE would guarantee them. Other deals included a car-component agreement with Danieli Group and an agreement with the Milan Airports company…
Delegates from both sides attended the event at Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture in Tehran, where Italy’s FATA SPA, the engineering unit of the country’s leading industrial group, Finmeccanica, signed a $237 million contract with Iran’s Foulad Boutia on the transfer of equipment and services for the construction of a power plant in Iran’s southern province of Kerman, IRNA said. It said the field holds more than 60 billion cubic meters of gas.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s party has slipped in voters’ estimation in recent weeks since a minister quit in connection with an influence-peddling probe, a poll indicated on Sunday.
Italy once ranked among Iran’s top trading partners, with 7 billion euros ($7.6 billion) in trade before worldwide sanctions were imposed on Iran over its nuclear ambitions.
The deal to lift sanctions did not include Iranian access to the US financial system, which means Tehran still has trouble processing transactions in dollars, the world’s main business currency and the dominant unit in the oil trade. In January, the two countries signed trade cooperation agreements worth 17 billion euros.
Heading a 250-strong business delegation, Renzi landed in the Iranian capital for an official two-day visit at the invitation of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
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According to Khamenei, some European governments and companies have been visiting Iran, but the product of these negotiations has not yet been tangible.
