Italy invites Iran’s Rouhani for Rome visit

Italy on Wednesday invited Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to Rome for an official visit, as its foreign minister held talks in Tehran following last month’s historic nuclear accord.

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. 

Rouhani said he “hoped to visit Italy, which enjoys an ancient civilisation and culture, at the proper time”. Several senior diplomats have shuttled in and out of Iran since July 14, when Tehran, after years of negotiations, struck an agreement with six world powers over its nuclear programme. “We can use the atmosphere after this agreement to the benefit of both sides and the European Union,” Rouhani said in a meeting with Italian ministers and business leaders on Thursday.