Rouhani in Rome; Plans to Sign €17 Billion Contracts with Italy

Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, arrived at Rome's airport on Monday, February 5, leading a delegation of over a hundred Iranian ministers and businessmen, where he was welcomed by Paolo Gentiloni, the Italian Foreign Minister. An Iranian 'government source' told Reuters that Italy is set to sign contracts worth €17 billion (approximately $18.4 billion) with Iran during Rouhani's visit to Rome. According to the report, these contracts include the construction of a 2,000-kilometer pipeline by the Italian oil company Saipem, valued at $4 to $5 billion. In another agreement, the Italian steel company Danieli is expected to sign a $5.7 billion deal with Iran to establish a joint steel company. Rouhani's trip was reported by IRNA, stating that he left Tehran's Mehrabad Airport with an official farewell from Ali Akbar Velayati, the international advisor to the leader, and Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president, heading to Rome. During his visit to Italy, the Iranian president is scheduled to meet with the President, Prime Minister, and other officials of the country, as well as several investors and large industrialists from Italy. Rouhani will also visit the Vatican and France during his four-day trip. On the eve of Rouhani's trip to Europe following the implementation of the JCPOA, he announced in a message on his Twitter account on Sunday, February 4, that he had written a letter to the leaders of the 1+5 countries. In his message, Rouhani expressed satisfaction with the efforts to reach a nuclear agreement and hoped for the timely implementation of commitments and necessary actions based on the JCPOA. The content of this letter has not yet been published. On January 26 of this year, after the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that Iran had fulfilled all its commitments under the nuclear agreement or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 1+5 group announced that all national and multilateral financial and economic sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program were lifted in accordance with the JCPOA. According to Reuters, Rouhani will first go to Italy and then to Paris at the head of a business delegation during this trip. The report states that Rouhani will meet with Pope Francis, the leader of the world's Catholics, as well as François Hollande, the President of France. This trip comes almost a week after the lifting of nuclear sanctions against Iran. According to Reuters, Italian and French officials have stated that they do not expect large contracts to be signed during Rouhani's visit. However, Iranian officials have recently expressed their desire to purchase Western goods, and in this regard, Abbas Akhoundi, Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development, stated that Tehran intends to buy 114 passenger aircraft from Airbus. An Iranian official also told Reuters: This trip is very important. Now is the time to open a new chapter of relations and cooperation in various fields. Rouhani was supposed to visit Italy, the Vatican, and France in November of this year, but following the attacks and explosions in Paris on Friday, his trip was postponed. This is the first visit by an Iranian president to France since 1999, when Mohammad Khatami, the former president, was the guest of Jacques Chirac, his French counterpart.