Iran–Italy relations

Iranian–Italian relations

Iran
Italy

Iranian–Italian relations refers to the diplomatic relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Italian Republic.

Overview

In 2005, Italy was the third largest trading partner of Iran with 7.5% of all exports to Iran.[1] Italy was the top trading partner of Iran in the European Union in early 2006.[2]

Italy has maintained active diplomatic channels with Tehran even in periods of heightened tensions between European Union and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Despite the severity of international sanctions that substantially reduced prospects of trade with Iran, Italian officials retained communication with Iranian counterparts on soft political issues, albeit just at low-level exchanges during the President Ahmadinejad.

After the interim nuclear deal was agreed in 2013, Italy’s Emma Bonino became the first European foreign minister to visit Tehran since the tenure of President Khatami. In both her capacity as Italian foreign minister and later EU High Representative, Federica Mogherini strongly backed the nuclear negotiations. She also reiterated that a breakthrough in the talks could lead to a new chapter for Iran and the West going beyond non-proliferation issues.[3]

In 2015, during an interview with RAI, President Rouhani said that Italy was the first trade partner among European Union states for several years before the international sanctions and that Iran regards Italy as the most important country for trade and economic cooperation.[4]

Italy officially considers the MKO, an Iranian opposition movement in exile that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a terrorist organization.[5]

Cultural relations

The movie "Soraya", directed by Lodovico Gasparini,[6] was released in 2004, depicting the story of Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari. Former Miss Italy Anna Valle played the leading role of the Persian Princess who was forced to divorce from the Shah of Iran after failing to give him an heir to the Sun Throne. The film was released in Italy on Rai Uno.[7]

In 2004, Italian experts were working on plans to expand the National Museum of Iran beyond its current capacity, from 2,200 to 6,000.[8]

See also

References

External links

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