Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in an interview published Wednesday that he still intends to visit Iran, a week after his ministry said the trip had been canceled.
Frattini told the daily Repubblica that his visit had only been postponed, citing the Iranian presidential election campaign, and adding that he would be inviting Tehran to a meeting of G8 foreign ministers in Trieste next month.
The Italian foreign ministry said May 20 that Frattini's visit to Iran had been called off following Tehran's decision to move a protocol meeting with the Iranian president from the capital to the northern town of Semnan.
The statement came as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced from Semnan that Iran had test-fired a new medium-range missile able to reach Israel, and again insisted there will be no climbdown over his government's nuclear programme.
Foreign ministers of the G8, which is currently headed by Italy, are to meet on June 25-27, with the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan on the agenda, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in particular is keen on Iran, a key regional player, attending.