Iran's Rouhani secures business deals in Italy

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Karimova

After the removal of international sanctions imposed against Iran, the country's President Hassan Rouhani embarked on a four-day state visit to Italy, Vatican and France on January 25.

It has been more than a decade since an Iranian president has visited any European Union nation.

Rouhani headed a high-ranking delegation comprising of government officials, entrepreneurs and businessmen.

In Italy, President Rouhani made a hint on Tehran's interest in improving relations with Rome following the implementation of a nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries.

Italy, which remains one of Iran’s main commercial partners despite a steep decline in trade due to the sanctions, has also expressed interest in reviving relations with Tehran and boosting trade ties.

President Rouhani and his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella expressed confidence that Tehran and Rome enjoy significant prospects for further developing relations in various fields.

The main achievement of this visit was signing of multi-billion dollar contracts covering various sectors, including health, transportation, agriculture and energy, Press TV reported.

The contracts, worth up to €17 billion ($18.4 billion), were inked in a ceremony attended by President Rouhani and President Mattarella.

Prior to the signing ceremony, an Italian official who asked not to be identified, told Bloomberg that a €5 billion accord for Saipem SpA and a €2 billion agreement for Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche are among the signed documents.

"Other companies making deals today include Gavio SpA and Fincantieri SpA," he added.

Reuters, in turn, reported that a pipeline contract worth €3.6-€4.6 billion ($4-5 billion) for Italian oil services group Saipem was among the deals.

Moreover, Italian steel firm Danieli said it would sign commercial agreements worth up to €5.7 billion ($6.1 billion) with Iran. Infrastructure firm Condotte d'Acqua was also scheduled to sign deals worth up to €four billion ($4.3 billion).

Iran, Italy can contribute to peace, security

Rouhani believes that relations with Italy go beyond bilateral significance and can contribute to security and stability in the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa regions.

IRNA reported that the president made this statement at a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi . the president also hailed Italy's positive role in the settlement of the dispute over Iran's peaceful nuclear program.

The Italian premier named the two countries as superpowers of beauty and culture and called for an increase of ties further than traditional oil and gas industries.

"Iran can be the hub of security, energy, human resources and development, and geopolitical importance," Rouhani said, welcoming Renzi's comments.

This was the first leg of Rouhani's four-day state visit to European countries. The Iranian president will then head to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis, while the next stop is Paris. Rouhani is expected to meet with French President Francois Hollande.