Italy on Wednesday cancelled at the last minute a flight to Iran by Franco Frattini, foreign minister, following strong objections from European capitals and Washington and a bid by Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran’s hardline president, to make election propaganda out of his visit.

Italy’s foreign ministry said it called off the two-day trip because Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, who is campaigning for re-election next month, wanted to meet Mr Frattini in the city of Semnan where the Iranian president had just announced the successful launch of a medium-range missile capable of hitting Israel.