Italian minister calls for closer trade ties between Tehran, Rome

Italy’s Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan voiced his country’s willingness to promote economic relations with Iran, saying Italian banks and companies are resolved to boost their cooperation with the Islamic Republic.

According to Tasnim news agency, in a Friday meeting with Iran's Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayyebnia, Padoan said, “We believe in fulfilling our obligations and developing ties with Iran.”

He added that Italy has used everything in its power to remove obstacles in the way to promote economic relations between the two countries.

“Italian banks and companies have serious determination to promote bilateral cooperation and we are waiting for your response about the offers made by (Italy’s) SACE and Eximbank,” he said.

Tayyebnia in this meeting criticized the Western parties to the July 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the 5+1 group for their slow pace in the implementation process of the agreement and called on them to fulfill their commitments and remove banking problems hampering Iran’s foreign trade.

While the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear agreement between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) came into force in January, some Iranian officials complain about the US failure to fully implement the accord.

Back in March, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said Americans have yet to fulfill what they were supposed to do as per the nuclear deal.

Iran still has problems in its banking transactions or in restoring its frozen assets, because Western countries and those involved in such processes are afraid of Americans, the Leader said at the time, criticizing the US for its moves to prevent Iran from taking advantage of the sanctions removal.

ME