The visit of former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami to Rome, scheduled on 25 October, has been postponed until the beginning or mid December, after Pope Benedict XVI returns from his trip to Turkey, Vatican sources said.
During his stay in Rome, Khatami will give a lecture at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University and meet the pope, who is scheduled to visit Turkey on 28-30 November.
The same sources, who asked to remain anonymous, added that the trip postponement was due to Iran and not to the Vatican.
Khatami, who was Iran's president from 1997 to 2005, has already visited the Vatican twice.
He met Pope John Paul II in 1999 - "the memory of this meeting is very precious to me," he said after the talks - and in April 2005 he attended the pontiff's funeral.
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
