How Rome unwillingly helped the Iranian regime by hosting the talks

The outcome of the talks held in Rome between the Trump administration and the Iranian leadership, mediated by Oman, had one single and predictable outcome: absolutely nothing, except conceding a little sop to Italy; a red stair carpet in which Foreign Minister Tajani was able to present Rome as the “Capital of Peace”.

The three parties seriously involved, which are the United States, Iran and the real mediator, Oman, decided to meet again next week in Muscat. As stated by the Iranian Foreign Minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, next Wednesday’s meeting will focus on “technical negotiations at the expert level.” More talks will then take place on Saturday, still in Oman.

After the Rome talks, the US delegation did not provide comments on the outcome of the meeting between US special envoy, Steven Witkoff, and Araghchi and neither on the Iranian demands. Unlike Washington, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani did not miss the opportunity to speak in front of the cameras and declared: ”Rome becomes the capital of peace and dialogue. I received Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and encouraged him to continue on the path of negotiations against nuclear weapons». Tajani then added that the Italian government hopes to reach, together, «a positive solution for the Middle East”, as explained by journalist Stefano Piazza in La Verità newspaper.

It is difficult to understand whether Tajani and Trump can truly believe in the Iranian regime’s willingness to give up the atomic bomb program. What is certain is that, beyond the propaganda about “Rome as the capital of peace”, it is truly naive to think that they can work with the Iranian regime on a “positive solution for the Middle East”.

What the Italian government and Minister Tajani may not have understood, unfortunately, is that they somehow provided Iran with a European media platform that was cleverly exploited by the Khomeinist regime. After all, it is sufficient to read the statements of the Iranian Foreign Ministry on X, posted immediately after the talks, to understand what the true intention of the Iranian regime was: to praise Italy for its longstanding relations with Iran and to attack Israel:

“Recalling the long history of Iran-Italy relations, which enjoy an ancient past, he recalled Italy’s interest in strengthening relations between the two countries and stressed the country’s determination to provide any assistance for the success of the Iran-US talks.”

And again:

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs of our country considered that the only obstacle to the realization of a Middle East free of nuclear weapons is the Zionist regime, which, together with genocide, lawlessness and aggression against the countries of the region, foments feelings of Iranophobia and seeks to exacerbate the climate of insecurity in the Middle East, which requires Europe and the international community to adopt a responsible position, far from imposed stereotypes.”

Going back to Tajani, in April 2024, during the Italian TV show “Stasera Italia” on Rete 4 channel, following Iran’s first missile attack against Israel, he had stated:

“The Iranians have assured us that our Italian soldiers in the area will be respected…The Italian contingent in Lebanon is under the aegis of the UN, it is in a condition to be protected, I don’t think there are any dangers either for the Italian soldiers or for the Italian citizens in Israel and Iran”. As for the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the minister explained how he was assured that “only ships that bring weapons to Israel would be attacked”. (Agi, Apr 14,2024). The last statement is further interesting, since the European anti-Houthi mission “Aspides” in the Red Sea is led by Italy and Greece.

At this point, we can only hope that Rome will not be involved anymore in the negotiations between the US and Iran.