Tehran  - Tehran on Sunday confirmed the visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) summit in Rome next week.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini told reporters in Tehran that the main aim of Ahmadinejad's visit was to attend the FAO summit.

Referring to other meetings with Italian officials or Pope Benedict XVI, the spokesman said if the relevant officials wished, those meetings could also be on the agenda.

The visit to Rome to attend the June 3-5 FAO summit would be Ahmadinejad's first to a European Union nation since his June 2005 election and his second to the Western world after twice attending the UN General Assembly in New York. (dpa)