Xi meets Khamenei; Iran lauds ‘new chapter’ in China ties

I ranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday kicked off his first visit to Europe in Italy after sanctions against his country’s nuclear programme were lifted last week. Originally planned for November previous year, it was postponed after the deadly Paris attacks in November, which were claimed by Islamic State.

In Italy, Rouhani is going to hold talks with President Mattarella, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, and other high-ranking officials.

After meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, he will be in France on Wednesday to meet President Francois Hollande.

Italian companies are expected to sign deals with Iran worth up to 17 billion euros.

Iran is interested in buying 114 aircraft from the European plane maker Airbus and over 100 plans from its U.S. rival Boeing, senior Iranian officials told Tehran’s first major post-sanctions gathering of global businesspeople on Sunday.

This is a very important visit…It’s time to turn the page and open the door to cooperation between our countries in different areas.

Paris took a hard line towards Iran among the six powers that were party to the nuclear negotiations, and has been outspoken in its condemnation of Iran’s support for Assad and skeptical of Tehran’s other Middle East interventions.

But Abbas Akhoundi, Iran’s minister of transport, said the first aircraft could join Iran’s ageing fleet as early as March.

With sanctions lifted, Iranian officials, determined to get full control of Iran’s global trade, have said that no tolerance will be shown for middlemen to get involved in the country’s worldwide purchases.

“Iran and China have agreed on forming strategic relations (as) reflected in a 25-year comprehensive document”, he said.

“Aviation is one of those industries that creates massive economic flow-on benefits, so tourism will expand, so you’ll need more infrastructure growth in hotels and right across the board”, he said.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday hailed a “new chapter” in relations with China after talks with President Xi Jinping, who is touring the region to boost Beijing’s economic influence.

“Italy was Iran’s leading economic and trade partner before the sanctions”, Italian economic development minister Federica Guidi said a few months ago, seeking to ensure her country regains that position.

China, along with the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Russian Federation, was among the countries that agreed with Iran in July to curtail its nuclear activities in exchange for ending worldwide sanctions.