ROME, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Tuesday told a Senate audition that a group of Iranian Basij militia had tried to attack the Italian embassy in Teheran.
Participating in a Senate audition, Frattini said the failed assault was carried out by more than 10 people belonging to the Iranian paramilitary Basij group, according to a report by the Agi news agency.
The Iranians allegedly threw stones at the embassy and shouted anti-Italian slogans like "Death to Italy" and "Death to (Italian Prime Minister) Berlusconi."
However, Iranian media reported that there were only some students who protested outside the Italian embassy, and that there were no reports of violence or attempts to attack the embassy.
The incident followed the recent condemnation of Berlusconi on Iran's state media, after the prime minister's address to Israel's Knesset last week.
The Italian leader pledged to push the Palestinians toward resuming peace talks with Israel, and Iranian media accused him of "being at the service of Israel."
The Italian prime minister, together with seven cabinet ministers, while in Jerusalem for the first-ever Israeli-Italian joint cabinet meeting, expressed the hope of an era of extensive cooperation between the two countries.
