Against a background of tight security arrangements, President Mohammad Khatami of Iran yesterday began a three-day official visit to Italy and the Vatican, the first such visit to an EU memberstate since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and one which is seen as heralding a new chapter in the history of the Islamic Republic.
Speaking after he had met President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro yesterday morning, the Iranian president said that he hoped his visit would usher in a "new era" in relations between Iran and Europe. During his stay in Rome, the president will also meet the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Massimo D'Alema, and Pope John Paul II.
Even as he was being received with full honours by Mr Scalfaro, dissident Iranians in exile were staging a protest in Rome, branding President Khatami as a "terrorist" who has consistently violated human rights and claiming that since he took office in May 1997, his regime has overseen 310 public executions, nine stonings to death and 28 killings outside Iran.
In the Netherlands, too, dissident Iranians also staged a protest with a short-lived occupation of the Italian consulate in Amsterdam, while in Italy more than 300 parliamentarians signed a petition calling for the protection of fundamental human rights in Iran.
Speaking on Monday, Mr D'Alema had argued in favour of the visit, pointing out that while Iran was certainly not a "model of democracy", Italy should nonetheless encourage the "hope of reform" that President Khatami represented.
Speaking on radio yesterday morning, the Foreign Minister, Mr Lamberto Dini, echoed that view when saying that the "new direction" taken by President Khatami must be encouraged so that Iran, rather than being closed off in a "religious ghetto", might become a source of stability in the Middle East. Both men have stressed that human rights will be on the agenda of their meetings while they will urge the Iranian president to adopt nuclear nonproliferation policies.
Italy's front-line role in ending Iran's 20-year diplomatic isolation owes much both to strong commercial ties and to a traditional foreign policy line that has concentrated on maintaining good relations with all the major Middle East powers. In that context, it was no surprise last year when Mr Dini broke ground by making an official visit to Iran, a visit soon followed by a similar one by the then prime minister, Mr Romano Prodi.
To some extent, Italian diplomats took advantage of the void created by the lack of dialogue between Iran and major western powers such as the US, Britain and Germany.
After Japan, Italy is Iran's second-largest trade partner, while the two countries do approximately $2.5 billion worth of trade with each other, with Italy importing mainly crude oil (Iran is Italy's second biggest oil supplier after Libya) and exporting mainly machinery and know-how for the textile and chemical industries.
Last week, ENI, the 37 per cent state-controlled Italian oil company, signed a $1 billion deal with France's Elf Aquitaine and the Iranian government on the development of an off-shore oil field, while companies currently interested in landing lucrative contracts with Iran include the construction group Ansaldo, the telecommunications unit Itatel and the export firm Cemb.
Perhaps the most keenly awaited moment of President Khatami's visit will come tomorrow when he meets Pope John Paul in the Vatican in a meeting which brings together two of the world's most important religious leaders as Iran currently chairs the Islamic Conference Organisation. Iranian diplomatic sources this week suggested that the Vatican audience will focus on the defence of the family and of human life, on the fight against poverty and on the fundamental moral and ethical principles of religion.
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, appeared keen to play down suggestions that it represented blanket approval for the Khatami regime. "If at all possible, the Pope receives with open arms anyone who asks for an audience," he said. "The Holy Father uses these visits as an opportunity to remind heads of states of their duties and obligations."
At a state banquet last night Mr Khatami said: "Iran and Italy. . . can work together towards. . . opposing all forms of violence, aggression, terrorism, racial and ethnic discrimination, as well as the proliferation of nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction."