A quote from the Italian press agency AKI, 8 July 2008

Ali Afshari, one of Iran's prominent student leaders, will arrive in Rome on Wednesday to thank Rome's Mayor, Gianni Alemanno, for his support for jailed student activists. […] Two of seven detained student activists in an Iranian prison who sent a letter to Alemanno, appeared before a Tehran court last week.

In mid-June, seven jailed activists from the student movement sent a letter to Alemanno thanking him for his support and for his readiness to rename a street in Rome as symbol of the fight for democracy in Iran.

Hedayat Ghazali and Sabbah Nasri appeared before the 13th section of Iran's Revolutionary Court after they sent the letter sent to Alemanno, sources from the Iranian student association Daftar Tahkim Vahdat said. […]

The jailed students said the decision to rename the street in Rome where the Iranian embassy is located "would give new life to those who fight for democracy in Iran." "We consider this generous gesture an important step. We hope that this noble gesture can be replicated by other world capitals," said the letter.