Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Emma Bonino has underscored the importance of Irans role in settling regional and international issues.In an interview on Friday, Bonino underscored the need for Irans participation in the upcoming peace conference on the ongoing crisis in Syria, saying the absence of Iran [in the talks] will not lead to automatic resolution of regional and international issues.
UN-Arab League Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi told media on Friday that Iran's participation in the Syria peace conference, scheduled for January 22 in the Swiss city of Montreux, near Geneva, had not been decided upon yet due to US opposition.
The Italian official arrived in Tehran on Saturday for an official visit to hold talks with Iranian authorities.
Heading a high-ranking delegation, Bonino is to meet her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday.
The visit comes after Zarif travelled to Rome in November at the invitation of Bonino to exchange views on regional and international matters.
Iranian Ambassador to Rome Jahanbakhsh Mozaffari said in an interview on Friday that the visit heralds the opening of a new promising chapter in Tehran-Rome relations.
The two-day visit comes nearly a month after a landmark agreement between Iran and five permanents of the UN Security Council plus Germany over Tehran's nuclear energy program in the Swiss city of Geneva.
Under the Geneva deal, the six countries have undertaken to lift some of the existing sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during a six-month period. It was also agreed that no more sanctions would be imposed on Iran within the same timeframe.
By Press TV
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