TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said Iran holds a �positive� view of Italy, expressing the hope that visit by the European country�s prime minister would further strengthen Iran�s optimistic view.





�Our view about cooperation with Italy and your government is a different and positive view and we hope that the visit (by Matteo Renzi) would boost the view,� Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with Renzi and his accompanying delegation in Tehran on Tuesday.

Pointing to Rome�s behavior toward Iran during Iraqi imposed war on the country in the 1980s, the Leader said Italy exercised more logical behavior compared with some Western countries.

�The Islamic Republic welcomes improvement of ties with Italy in different fields, economic cooperation in particular.�

The Leader at the same time criticized visits by European delegations to Iran for lacking �tangible and practical results�.

�Some European governments and companies have been visiting Iran and are in talks (with Iran), but the outcome of these negotiations has not yet been tangible,� the Leader said.

He said some sides blame the US for the lack of tangible results, adding the assessment seems to be acceptable given Americans� track record and behavior.

�As even now they (the Americans) are not acting as they should in fulfilling their obligations [made] throughout the nuclear talks�,� Imam Khamenei said.

Ayatollah Khamenei further said Iran and Italy can cooperate in fighting terrorism.

�A number of European countries used to support certain violent terrorist groups for some time and today the dangerous and overarching wave of terrorism has reached Europe too,� the Leader added.

Ayatollah Khamenei cited the US�s financial and arms support for terrorist groups as an obstacle to the eradication of terrorism.

The Italian prime minister started a visit to Tehran earlier in the day at the head of a 250-strong political and economic delegation.

Six documents for cooperation were later signed during a high-level meeting presided over by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Renzi.

By Tasnim News Agency