Relations between Italy and Iran seem to escape common conceptual definitions commonly used by international relations (IR) scholars. The two countries are not allied. They belong to different...Show moreRelations between Italy and Iran seem to escape common conceptual definitions commonly used by international relations (IR) scholars. The two countries are not allied. They belong to different international blocs and diverge on a number foreign policy issues. They have different preferences and goals. Yet, their relations have been connoted by consistent mutual empathy. The fact that Italy is a “Western” country – being one of the founders of United Europe and a member of NATO – has never jeopardised its relations with Tehran, even when an anti-Western attitude was strategically preferred by Iran for both domestic and international purposes. Not even Khomeini’s revolution and the international sanctions did completely stop their relations, and Italy has long been Iran’s main trading partner.We can say that two thousand years of history and cultural traditions make the two countries closer than it may superficially appear and are the basis for a deep political discourse. In my analysis I will examine how the two countries have managed to safeguard their respective interests within a reciprocal relationship that has remained constant despite the arising of internal ideologically antithetical situations, e.g. in Italy the opposition between DC and PCI1 during the cold war, and in Iran the transition from the Pahlavi regime to Khomeini’s theocracy. The interests, the will to keep commercial and business channels in general open have been the winning cards that can make us say today that the ‘special liaison’ exists, is factual and can be fully analysed in the IR field.Show less
