TEHRAN-Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister for Planning and Economic Affairs Alireza Da’emi announced that Tehran and Rome signed an MOU on construction of 500 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy power plants in Iran, IRNA reported on Tuesday.

The planned projects will be completed in the next five years by the Italian investing companies, the official added.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi arrived in Tehran on Tuesday morning for economic and political talks with the senior Iranian officials and signed six cooperation agreements with Iran.

Renzi is accompanied by a 250-strong economic and political delegation.

The visit by Renzi comes after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited Rome in late January during which Iran and Italy signed billions of dollars of business deals in sectors from energy to infrastructure and from steel to shipbuilding.

At the time Renzi said, “This is just the beginning of a journey. There are sectors where we must work closer together."

HJ/MA