President Hassan Rouhani's four-day European swing aims to help position Tehran as a player in Middle East peace efforts, after the country reached a deal with world powers to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for an end to economic sanctions. Hassan Rouhani is using the first state visit by an Iranian president to Europe in nearly two decades to boost his country's economy, now that a nuclear deal has led to the lifting of sanctions. Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni says, after meeting his Iranian counterpart, that Tehran can be a regional player in reducing Middle East tensions, starting with Syria's civil war.