The Italian head of state, Giorgio Napolitano, said that the fact that his country had close economic and commercial ties with Iran did not mean "that we are not doing our part in the UN sanctions." Napolitano, who started a three-day visit to Israel at the head of a delegation of some 100 Italian business leaders, confirmed in an interview with the Israeli newspaper 'Yediot Aharonot' that Italy does have important economic relations with Iran, "similar to its ties with other countries in the Middle East."
President Napolitano added: "Italy is also aware of Israel's concerns in regards to Iran and shares the efforts being exerted as part of the UN Security Council resolutions, in order to limit the development options of the Iranian nuclear plan and prevent Tehran from shifting to military nuclear production." After Germany, Italy is Iran's most important trading partner in the European Union.
The value of Italy's trade with Iran reached € 1.4 billion (US 1.8 billion) between January and August this year, according to the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade. This is an increase of 27 per cent from the same period in 2007. On Tuesday, Napolitano and Italian President Shimon Peres are scheduled to launch an Israeli-Italian authors' dialogue in Jerusalem.
