Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said visits by European delegations to Iran need to produce "tangible" results.
Ayatollah Khamenei made the remark in a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi who was in Tehran at the head of a 250-strong delegation in pursuit of restoring mutual business ties in the wake of sanctions relief that came as part of the July 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers.
Aaccording to the official website of the Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei referred to good relations between Tehran and Rome in the past and welcomed enhancement of bilateral ties.
"Our view concerning cooperation with Italy and your government is a different and positive one, and we hope that this visit would serve to bolster this view," he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei described Italy's approach during sanctions years as more logical than certain western governments, saying, "The Islamic Republic welcomes development of relations with Europe in different fields, particularly economic cooperation."
The Leader stated that the important issue with respect to visits paid to Iran by foreign officials and negotiations with them is the implementation of agreements that have been concluded.
"Some European governments and companies have been visiting Iran and held talks [with Iran], but the product of these negotiations has not been tangible yet," he said.
"Some shift the blame for this issue onto the Americans, which assessment seems acceptable given their track record and behavior, because even now they are not fulfilling the obligations [they undertook] through the nuclear talks [with Iran] as they should, and are discouraging other parties from working with Iran by their remarks and actions."
Positive View
Ayatollah Khamenei referred to President Hassan Rouhani's first European visit to Italy in January, saying that Iran holds a positive and optimistic view of Italy.
"Of course, we do not have this positive view with regard to certain European countries, because they only look at America to act as it dictates to them," he said.
The Leader described the fight against terrorism as another ground for cooperation between the two countries.
"A number of European countries used to support certain violent terrorist groups for a long time, and today, the dangerous and overarching wave of terrorism has reached Europe as well," he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei cited the US financial and arms support for terrorist groups as an obstacle to the resolution of the problem of terrorism.
"There is authentic and accurate information about America's assistance to Daesh [an Arabic acronym for the so-called Islamic State militant group] and certain other terrorist groups, and even now that they have formed a [so-called] anti-Daesh coalition, certain American institutions are helping Daesh in different ways," he said.
The Italian prime minister said that during his meetings with Iranian officials, they discussed important issues, particularly economic issues, and reached the conclusion that the two sides need to "reform and strengthen economic and financial mechanisms".
"Italy is fully determined to respect agreements [signed with Iran] and on this basis, we believe that following the nuclear agreement the sanctions against Iran must be lifted and we are not worried and are determined to act on the basis of our promise," he said.
Renzi highlighted the spillover of terrorism to Europe, saying that the only way to counter this phenomenon is to root out terrorist organizations through military means and to cut off the financial resources received through selling oil and antiquities.
"Eradication of IS is a priority for us and we are happy that we share the same view with Iran in this regard," he said.
