Paolo Gentiloni delivered the invitation from Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Rouhani’s website reported, a week after France asked the moderate president to visit Paris in November.
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“There is no obstacle on the way to develop cooperation between Tehran and Rome in various political, economic, cultural, scientific and tourism fields”, President Rouhani said during a meeting with visiting Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni and Economic Development Minister Federica Guidi on Wednesday.
Several European ministers have visited Tehran since a nuclear deal was struck last month, hoping to benefit from the opening of a major economy with a young, well-educated population of just under 80 million and some of the world’s largest energy reserves.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry “strongly rejected” on Sunday the claim circulating among right-wing American blogs that Mehdi Zarif, son of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, attended the wedding of Vanessa Kerry, US Secretary of State John Kerry’s daughter, in 2009.
The nuclear deal will lead to worldwide sanctions, which had frozen much European business investment in Iran, being lifted in the coming months.
Iranian Economy Minister Ali Tayebnia said that trade with Italy stood at $7 billion (6.4 billion euros) a year before sanctions were introduced.
“The number of cars produced in Iran is high and this will not be limited to Iran’s market”, he was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. Pointing to Iran-Italy historical relations, he added there was no obstacle on the way to boost of mutual cooperation.
Rouhani said for his part that there is no barrier for Iran and Italy to enhance bilateral ties.
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At the end of the meeting, a memorandum of cooperation was signed by the Italian Export Credit Agency (SACE), and the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran (OIETAI) and Iran’s Central Bank.
