Silvio's Teheran love affair on the rocks

Shouting "death to Italy" and hurling stones, a hundred protestors gathered on February 9 in front of the Italian embassy in Teheran. This came in the wake of Silvio Berlusconi’s speech to Israel’s Knesset in which he spoke of the need to protect Israel and also assist the Iranian opposition. According to La Stampa, "relations between Rome and Teheran, once good enough to raise concerns in the most hard-line western governments, have soured dramatically in the last few days". After Berlusconi’s speech, Italian energy giant ENI announced that it will not sign new contracts with Iran. Italy has fallen into step with Europe on isolating the regime, explains La Stampa: "For a country wishing to play a role on the international stage, good relations with Teheran were an unsustainable burden". Protests took place also in front of the French and Dutch embassies.