Rome covers naked statues for Iranian president’s visit

Italy has covered up ancient nude statues ahead of Iranian president Hassan Rouhani’s official visit to Rome.

ROME Jan 26 Iran wants to become a major exporting nation following the lifting of global sanctions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday, adding that economic growth was crucial to defeating extremism in the Middle East.

The two men made speeches in Rome’s Capitoline Museum after a signing ceremony on Monday which saw Italian companies tie up 17 billion euros ($18 billion) worth of deals with the Islamic Republic.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, left, shakes hands with Italian Premier Matteo Renzi during their meeting at the Campidoglio, Capitol Hill, in Rome, Monday, Jan. 25, 2016.

In a statement, the Vatican appeared to reward Rouhani by noting the talks included “the important role that Iran was called to play” to combat terrorism.

“They all have these bright euro or dollar signs in their eyes about Iranian business opportunities, but whoever is going to do business in Iran will have to do it with their money and not Iranian money”, Prince Turki al-Faisal, earlier the Saudi intelligence head and ambassador to Washington, said on Tuesday.

Another essay similarly complained that Italy had “bowed down” to Rouhani and art had been “sacrificed” to a new relationship between Iran and Italy.

Moreover, at the banquet held in Rouhani’s honor, no wine was served at table to anyone, out of respect for the Muslim rule of abstinence.

The Iranian president was at the museum to meet with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Rouhani planned to visit France in November but canceled at the last minute, following the attacks in Paris. It was the first time since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution that an Iranian leader had visited any Western country.

Mr Rouhani emphasised that all sections of Iran’s often-divided political class were firmly behind the post-sanctions drive to secure the trade and investment needed to create new roads, rail links, airports and other infrastructure. The southern European country has been suffering economically in recent years, particularly from high youth unemployment.

After their closed-door meeting, Pope Francis greeted the 12-person Iranian delegation and accepted two gifts from the president.

A Vatican communique described the meeting between Francis and Rouhani as cordial, and centered largely on relations between the Holy See and Iran, the life of the Church in the country, and the actions of the Holy See in promoting the dignity of the human person and religious freedom. The trip comes a few days after the economic sanctions against Tehran were lifted following the implementation of the nuclear deal.