(Xinhua) - Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D' Alema said that diplomacy remains the best path to resolve the crisis with Iran.
In an interview broadcast by Italian TV on Thursday, D'Alema, who the day before met in Rome with Iranian Foreign Minister Manucheher Mottaki, warned against building up a case against Iran based on unsubstantiated evidence, the way the United States did with Iraq, reports Trend.
The minister observed that diplomacy remains the best path to resolve the crisis with Iran even if this will be "very delicate and difficult".
"The way things stand now, if what reports say is true, Iran does not appear to be on the verge of developing nuclear weapons," D'Alema said.
According to D'Alema it was "inconceivable" that Italy has been left out of the so-called Contact Group, comprising United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, which is negotiating with Iran.
In the event the international community adopts economic sanctions against Iran, D'Alema said, this would represent a case of "taxation without representation" for Italy which is Iran's biggest trading partner.