Rome Jan 2 (IANS/AKI) The unrest that has swept Iran over the past six days will not help Italian companies invest in the oil-rich country a top official from Italy s main business lobby Confindustria said on Tuesday.
"We need to see how the currently extremely difficult and highly critical situation evolves inside Iran " Licia Mattioli Confindustria s Vice President for internationalisation told AKI.
Many Italian companies have inked "large numbers of contracts" in Iran since it ended its trading isolation in 2016 after a deal with world powers to end crippling sanctions in exchange for curbing its nuclear activities.
These contracts - worth billions of euros - are currently "at different stages " said Mattioli.
"A country undergoing internal upheaval presents a complicated situation that can jeopardise such accords " she said.
But it would be "premature" to predict how current events will impact Italian companies and the contracts they have signed with Iran she stated.
"But a country s stability is a necessary condition for foreign investment and is good for business " Mattioli said.
Officials say over 20 people have been killed and hundreds arrested in Iran since the protests broke out on Thursday in the northeastern city of Mashhad - and spread to the capital Tehran and several other provinces.
The unrest was ignited by frustration at Iran s sluggish economy but has widened to include open defiance of Iran s ruling clergy.
--IANS/AKI
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