Senator: Italy keen to consolidate relations with Iran

A senior Italian senator said Iran's influential presence and positive stances on the regional and international scenes have caused the statesmen and politicians in Rome to seize the opportunity for expanding ties with Tehran. Speaking at a meeting with Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi in Tehran on Saturday, Chairman of the Italian Senate's Foreign Policy Commission Pier Ferdinando Casini stressed that Iran is a highly significant country in the region. Casini underscored that Tehran and Rome have always enjoyed good political and parliamentary relations and added that the Italian parliament welcomes the further development of ties with Iran. The Italian senator pointed out that Italy has always stressed the presence of Iran in talks on regional crises, including those in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, so Italy supports Iran’s presence in the Geneva talks on Syria too. Late in December, Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino in a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stressed Iran’s key role in the region, and said her country is eager to use Tehran’s experiences and potentials in settling the regional crises. During the meeting, Bonino said that “Italy while contributing to the promotion of Iran-Europe ties, hopes to be able to have joint cooperation with Iran in solving regional issues”. Italy is eager to expand cooperation with Iran in economic, industrial, energy, tourism, science and research domains, she added.