With the US still critical of President Mohammad Khatami's latest overtures to the West, the reformist Iranian leader received a ringing endorsement yesterday from the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Massimo d'Alema.
The two men met on the second day of the Iranian President's landmark visit to Italy and the Vatican, where he is due to meet Pope John Paul II today.
"He is proud of his people's battle to establish their dignity and independence. Yet at the same time he is open to dialogue with other peoples and cultures and attentive to those democratic values which represent the best of European tradition," Mr d'Alema said.
For his part, President Khatami yesterday repeated a call for Italy and Europe to help oppose the spread of violence, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, adding: "I am convinced of the . . . absolute necessity for the establishment of democracy on an inter national level and the rejection of any form of dictatorship on a world level."
"We agree that the world, now more than at any other time, needs peace and concord," President Khatami, speaking through an interpreter, told reporters after his talks with Mr d'Alema. "The world is tired of seeing the perpetuation of violence and terrorism, but the effort to create a real peace needs to go hand in hand with the struggle to restore justice."
Italy and Iran were getting on famously, signing a four-part bilateral agreement encompassing to trade links, investment and scientific and technological exchanges. But not everyone was convinced of the new direction signalled by this first visit to an EU member-state by an Iranian leader since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
In Washington the US State Department spokesman, Mr James Rubin, said Iran still had a long way to go to change "policies and practices with respect to support for terrorism and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction". He added: "We expect and trust that the Italian government will convey these same concerns to their Iranian guest."
On a more immediate level, opposition to President Khatami's visit found tangible expression for the second consecutive day in the protests of Iranian dissidents in exile, one of whom managed to hit the Iranian leader's car with a paint bomb as it drove through central Rome.
The dissidents argue that Italy and other European countries open to dialogue with the Khatami government are being cynical, preferring to ignore the regime's persistent human-rights violations in the interests of lucrative commercial ties.
Italy is Iran's second-largest trade partner, after Japan, generating approximately $2.5 billion (£1.7 billion) worth of trade, with Italy importing mainly crude oil - Iran is Italy's second-biggest oil supplier after Libya - and exporting mainly machinery and expertise for the textile and chemical industries.
Today President Khatami, a Shia Muslim elected in May 1997, will have a Vatican audience with Pope John Paul II, an audience which assumes ever greater importance given that Iran currently has the chair of the Islamic Conference Organisation.
While Iranian diplomatic sources expect the meeting to focus on issues such as defence of the family and the fight against world poverty, Vatican sources stress the importance of the dialogue between Islam and Christianity.