Italys Foreign Minister Emma Bonino will visit Iran to hold talks with Iranian officials on a range of issues.On Thursday, the Italian minster said that she will be visiting Tehran "in the next few days," the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
According to the Italian news agency, Boninos visit will be the first official visit to Tehran by an Italian foreign minister after almost 10 years. In 2004, Italys then Foreign Minister Franco Frattini visited Iran.
The Italian foreign minister will exchange views on regional and international issues during meetings with Iranian officials. Reports say Boninos visit mainly aims at boosting commercial ties between Iran and Italy.
Bonino had previously said, "Our cooperation with Iran was traditionally very, very good."
The announcement to visit Iran comes after a nuclear agreement between the Islamic Republic and the six world powers in Geneva last month.
On November 24, Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain -- plus Germany sealed an interim deal in Geneva to pave the way for the full resolution of the Wests decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy program.
In exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the six powers have agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Early in November, Bonino said, We know well that if sanctions were to be eased, a race towards Iran would start," adding, "We are working on a plan of exchanges and cooperation not just in the energy sector."
Earlier this month, Paolo Scaroni, the chief executive of Italys multinational oil and gas company Eni, said that the company is willing to return to Iran to develop hydrocarbon projects once sanctions against the Islamic Republic are lifted.
We plan to continue to be in Iran and possibly increase our activity as long as the sanctions regime is lifted, Scaroni said following a meeting with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh in the Austrian capital Vienna on December 5.
By Press TV
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