Italy wants an end to the violence in Iran and a ''serious'' review of the recent presidential election, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Monday.
''What we want above all is for the violence to stop, that there are no more deaths or people attacked in the streets. And then we want a serious review of the vote,'' Frattini told the press.
In reply to accusations by Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki that European countries, in particular Britain, were kindling the violence in Iran, Frattini said that ''European countries have not manipulated anything. We have witnessed scenes of violence and firmly believe that there should be no violence''.
In regard to the contested outcome of the presidential vote, which saw the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in an election which saw more ballots cast than the number of voters, the Italian diplomatic chief said ''we do not want to recount the ballots ourselves, that is something that Iran must do. We have no intention of taking the place of Iranian authorities''.
Frattini on Monday also announced that Iran has until the end of the day to accept an invitation from Italy to take part in a ministerial meeting on the stabilization of Afghanistan and Pakistan which Rome is organising in Trieste, June 25-27, in its role as the rotating president of the Group of Eight.
''As of today, Monday, the invitation will be considered implicitly declined if no answer is received during the day,'' Frattini said.
The Italian foreign minister added that he had received no confirmation either way, despite the fact that ''it is clear diplomatic etiquette that when one receives an invitation they must respond to it''.
''Today we should know something because we hold the G8 presidency and, frankly, we have gone out of our way to include them,'' he added.
(A Iranian foreign ministry spokesman in Tehran told ANSA on Monday said that no decision had yet been made on attending the Trieste meeting).
Given the situation in Iran, Frattini said that ''in a moment like this it is hard to imagine what contribution Iran could make to our discussions this week. What we will be looking for are concrete actions and pragmatism''.
''Nevertheless, Iran is a key player in the region and we wish to see it play a positive role. But it is clear that what has taken place in recent days has made the situation regarding the Iranian government very complicated,'' Frattini observed.
''The reason for this is that the re-election of Ahmadinejad has been questioned and there are those, like the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, who believe that the voice of those who want a recount should be listened to,'' Frattini explained.
