TEHRAN (FNA)- Italian Ambassador to Iran Mauro Conchatori asked for the enhancement of cultural ties between Rome and Tehran.
"I have recognized old and deep cultural affinities between Iran and Italy" in the past several months of my mission in Iran, Conchatori said during his meeting with Head of Iran's National Library and Document Organization Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri on Sunday.
He called for practical steps to be taken to promote cooperation between Iran's National Library and Document Organization and his country's cultural centers.
Amiri, for his part, expressed hope for expansion of bilateral cultural relations, adding that Iranian public opinion expected a higher level of cultural interaction considering relations between the two countries in the fields of economy and politics.
He also suggested holding a joint conference in Tehran in the field of cultural relations between the two countries.
In October, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a meeting with Italian Ambassador to Tehran Mauro Conchatori underscored that there are abundant potentials for the further expansion of relations between Iran and Italy.
"Italy stands in the position of Iran's biggest trade partner in Europe and today we should also be able to remove the problems facing the expansion of our relations and enhance the level of these ties to the status that they deserve," Rouhani said during the meeting in Tehran.
Noting that Iran and Italy have always played the role of a bridge in the relations between the East and the West, he said that the two nations enjoy noteworthy potentials and capacities for the further development of their bilateral relations in scientific, cultural, economic, political and international fields.
"Today many international and European companies are negotiating over economic and trade cooperation contracts with Iran, and Italy can become active in this field and use the existing opportunity given its extensive economic and industrial relations with Iran in the past," Rouhani said.