Iran and Italy Sign Several Contracts and Memoranda of Understanding

Reports indicate that Iran and Italy signed several contracts and memoranda of understanding in various fields during Matteo Renzi's visit, the Italian Prime Minister, to Tehran on Tuesday, April 13. According to Mehr, the National Iranian Gas Export Company and Italy's Enel signed a memorandum for the export of natural gas. Associated Press reports that Enel stated this memorandum outlines a framework for potential cooperation in natural gas, gas condensates, and related infrastructure issues. The company added that this agreement could also include the exchange of information, studies, assessments, and training. Additionally, a memorandum was signed between Iran Airports Company and Milan Airports Company for the reconstruction of Tehran Airport. In this context, Alireza Daemi, Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Energy, announced the signing of a cooperation memorandum between Iran and Italy for the construction of renewable power plants with a total capacity of 500 megawatts in Iran over the next five years. According to Associated Press, before the international sanctions against Iran in 2011, Italy was one of Iran's important trade partners with an annual trade balance of about $7.6 billion. Last year, Iran and six world powers reached an agreement on the country's nuclear program. Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the international community lifting nuclear sanctions against Tehran. Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated on Tuesday, 'Italy was the largest trading partner of Iran in the European Union before sanctions, and we want this country to play its former role today.' The President added, 'We are pleased that in the post-sanctions era, Italy has taken steps as one of the leading countries in the European Union to develop relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.' Rouhani also mentioned that although banking sanctions have been lifted and bank activities have resumed, the psychological aspects that remain from the sanctions era still require efforts to eliminate them. The Italian Prime Minister arrived in Tehran on Tuesday with a '250-member delegation' of economic and political officials and managers from his country. The previous year's trip of the Iranian President to Italy and Paris led to the signing of several economic memoranda between Tehran and Paris and Tehran and Rome, including a memorandum for the purchase of 118 Airbus aircraft from France.