IRNA � Italy's Ambassador in Iran Giuseppe Perrone stressed the two countries' determination to expand bilateral cultural cooperation especially in the area of cultural heritage sites.

The Ambassador made the remarks in an exclusive interview with IRNA on the sidelines of a ceremony to launch the joint Iran-Italy project for the development of cultural heritage and tourism in Tehran which was held Monday evening.

Commenting on the cultural characteristics of the Iranian nation, he believed "[Iran] is extremely welcoming and generous with a lot of culture and cultural heritage and attractions to offer."

"When people come here from overseas, they are pleasantly surprised by nature and by the character of the Iranian people," he said.

In regards to the familiarity of Italians with Iranian culture, Perrone said that due to the "constant exchange throughout the years", the two nations are "very familiar" with each other's culture.

Stressing the continuous trend of interactions between the two countries in various areas, the Ambassador noted that even now there are a lot of Iranian students studying in Italy who form the country's largest "foreign student community".

Answering a question on the quantity and quality of the joint cultural projects Iran and Italy have and the one which is to start soon, he said: "I think it is a very important project because it's about promoting cultural heritage."

Perrone said that "the project aims to make sure that Iran develops its capabilities to attract more foreign tourists and better organize its tourism industries."

He went on to describe Iran "as a country that is very rich in terms of cultural sites and archeological sites� so there is a lot for people to discover," adding that "Iran is a country that has a great and tapped potential and when it comes to tourism, cultural heritage, it has a lot of to offer."

Saying that the Italian cultural heritage society is a fairly large one with a lot of experts in different fields, he added that "the delegation (which hare in Iran to explore the probabilities of cooperation) was pleased with what they saw in western Iran."

"All ingredients are there to develop a really effective and impactful project that is going to eventually be able to help all the tourism industry, especially the creation of cultural sites all over Iran."

He further said that "the project will have a follow-up mission by the Iranian side to Italy to share the details and engage in cooperation. The project relates to the promotion of sites through technologies in a cooperative approach, new techniques, etc."

About the scope of the projects done by Italians in Iran, he said "This is not the first and definitely not the last. Iran and Italy have had decades of cooperation in cultural projects. Iranian and Italian people are linked because they are both heirs of ancient civilizations, so there is a lot that people from Iran and Italy have to exchange."

Elaborating on the point, he noted that "last week, Italians and Iranian celebrated the 60th anniversary of their relationship in the area of archeology and culture in the Italian residence in Tehran."

Pointing out that he started his mission in Tehran only six months ago, he said he was "impressed" by the kind of cooperation and interests that he found in Iran.