Iranian president meets Italian FM

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met last night with visiting Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino. During the meeting they reviewed bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in addition to a number of regional and international issues of common interest. Rouhani said that ties with Italy, as an influential European country, can help to build trust with Europe, expressing Iran's readiness to promote relations with Italy to the "highest level possible." He added that Italy has been an important partner for the Islamic Republic of Iran and has so far acted as the "gateway for Iran's interaction with Europe." The Italian Foreign Minister, for her part, expressed her country's readiness to bolster cooperation with Iran in economic, industrial, energy, tourism and scientific arenas. She referred to the previous agreements signed by the two countries in the study of ways to enhance cooperation in the fields of politics, culture, industry, tourism and cultural heritage, saying that Italy is keen to improve its ties with Tehran to serve its interests.