Iran President Holds Rare Meeting With Pope; Talks About Economic And Trade Agenda with Europe
It's one of those rare diplomatic meet-and-greet moments between leaders of two theocratic states whose religions are diametrically opposed to each other for centuries.
In an apparent show of warming relations between the West and the former pariah state, Vatican's Pope Francis and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met in a private meeting to discuss a whole range of issues mainly on how to build long-lasting peace in the war-torn Middle East, combat terrorism, and arms trafficking following a breakthrough withering of icy West-Iran relations for decades.
Official Vatican statement viewed the rare private discussion with the Iranian leader as 'cordial' with 'common spiritual values' arising from the said dialog.
The unorthodox Argentine Pope is seen a helpful bridge of repairing a damaged West-Iran relations with his successful feat in brokering talks between Cuba and the US which has now a resulted to a normalized bilateral links between the two countries.
"If we want peace in the Middle East, Iran and Iranian Islam have a vital role to play," Rev. Bernardo Cervellera of Rome-based Asia News told The Wall Street Journal as quoted in a report by The Washington Post.
Leading a 120-strong delegation composed mainly of top Iranian business leaders and key ministers in his government, Rouhani met with Italy's political and business elites a day earlier as part of his official visit to Europe.
The economic talks between Italy and Iran's visiting delegation is widely expected to produce a trade deal worth 17 billion euros ($18.4 billion) according to Haaretz.
"Iran is the safest, the most stable country in the entire region. Now we have created the conditions for investment and for the transfer of know-how," said Rouhani in his business pitch to Italian business and government audience as stated in a news article by NPR.
