Italian PM Renzi to visit Iran next week

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will travel to Iran next week for a two-day trip that will make him the first major international figure to visit since the lifting of sanctions against Tehran.

Renzi’s office says in a statement Monday that the center-left leader would visit the Islamic Republic on April 12-13, without giving further details of his itinerary.

Italy has led the way among 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.

An accord to lift the sanctions was agreed last year and came into force in January.

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.

— AFP