ROME, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Italy has strongly renewed an appeal to its citizens to leave Iran because of the security situation in the country, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
There are around 600 Italians in Iran, most of them in the Tehran area, it added.
With Iran’s leadership trying to quell the worst domestic unrest the Islamic Republic has ever faced, Tehran is seeking to deter U.S. President Donald Trump‘s repeated threats to intervene on behalf of anti-government protesters.
“There are more than 900 members of the Italian Armed Forces in the region, including about 500 personnel in Iraq and 400 in Kuwait, where precautionary measures are being adopted to protect military personnel,” the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani chaired a meeting on Wednesday with a group of Italian ambassadors and representatives of the Defence Ministry and the intelligence services.
“In this context, Italy’s position of firm condemnation of the violent repression of demonstrations and of the serious violations of human rights was reaffirmed,” the ministry said.
(Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
