And Italy wants to be included in nuclear talks with Iran:
"Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema was on Sunday quoted as saying Italy should be included in any future talks with Iran over the nuclear issue. His comments came just days after Italy committed up to 3,000 troops to the UN peacekeeping mission to southern Lebanon" (Gareth Smyth, "Iran Vows to Continue Making Nuclear Fuel," 27 August 2006 <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/272a9fc4-35f6-11db-b249-0000779e2340.html>)
<blockquote>Italy wants to join Iran nuclear talks
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's government wants to join nuclear negotiations with Iran, currently being led by the permanent five members of the UN Security Council and Germany, Italy's Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said.
D'Alema said the Iran talks fit neatly into Italy's deepening diplomatic role in the Middle East, after it committed last week up to 3,000 troops to a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
Italy's troop commitment is the biggest by any nation so far and it will lead the UN mission starting early next year.
"We also have the right to be included, when dealing with the Iranian question," D'Alema was quoted as saying on Sunday in Italy's La Repubblica newspaper, reprinting an interview with a German publication.
Italy has strong trade ties with Iran.
Prime Minister Romano Prodi took office in May on promises to withdraw Italian troops from Iraq, a war which he opposed and which his centre-left government has blamed for heightening tensions in the region.
But Prodi has also battled to keep troops on a NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, a peacekeeping mission that, along with Lebanon, he believes are priorities for European diplomacy.
"Italy has returned to have a an important role in international diplomacy and even more the area represented by the Mediterranean," Prodi said in a written question-and-answer with La Repubblica readers published on Sunday.
D'Alema said that Europe needed to pay more attention to the Middle East, after being understandably distracted by EU enlargement in recent years. He reiterated strong criticism of Israel's 34-day war against Hezbollah guerrillas.
"I think that the Israeli reaction (in Lebanon) was exaggerated, that it should have stopped its actions after a few days and, all told, the prolongation of the hostilities has not helped anyone, even Israel," D'Alema said. <http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=8/28/2006&Cat=2&Num=011></blockquote>
Very interesting. -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>