The Iranian president Hassan Rouhani met the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Rome today on the first leg of his momentous 5-day official trip to Europe.
The elected political leader of the world’s fourth largest oil producer is eager to resume Iran’s commercial relationships now that international nuclear sanctions have been lifted. This process was heralded last Saturday with Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to Tehran. Now Rouhani has packed his bags to go on the road to drum up business.
France comes next on Rouhani’s itinerary, which is, curiously enough, the same countries to which his predecessor Mohammad Khatami went on the last visit to Europe by an Iranian head of government in 1999. The sheer size of Rouhani’s 120-strong delegation demonstrates just how much importance the Iranian reform-minded PM is giving to this visit as well, perhaps, as the high security risk a travelling Iranian leader faces.
“Landed in Rome. Looking forward to deepening bilateral ties and exploring opportunities for constructive engagement,” was Rouhani’s first official tweet this morning. The President is meeting Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi today in Rome and will meet French President François Hollande on Thursday in Paris. In between, he will also visit Pope Francis, who has been an important advocate for a peaceful resolution to the crisis over Iran’s nuclear programme last year.
Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran since 2013. Souce: Getty.
Premier Rouhani is expected to sign agreements with Italian firms worth some $18bn. Once in France, he will seek to reach a deal with Airbus Industries for the purchase of 114 aircraft to update Iran’s ageing commercial air fleet. Iran Iranian car manufacturer Khodro could wrap up a deal with Peugeot worth $542m, French media reported.
Most countries seem to be keen to re-establish trading ties with the Persian nation. Europe was once Iran’s largest trading partner before sanctions were imposed, with almost $30bn in yearly trade compared with the current $8.2bn. The US Federal Reserve has issued a guidance document to EU banks explaining how to avoid dealing with certain entities and individuals still blacklisted under sanctions relating to terrorism and human rights.
However, a sense of deja vu is seeing banks and financiers still somewhat reluctant to get over-excited and about a thaw with Tehran and is holding back on whether and how to accept payments from Iran. In a country with such a troubled history of international relations, maybe you can never be too careful.
