Can mortgage interest paid to a foreign lender be considered portfolio interest (tax exempt)>

I am paying mortage interest to a bank in Italy for a second home I am buying in Italy.

I am trying to find out if or not I need to pay US taxes on these interest.

I think I do (at the 15% under the Italy/US tax treaty) unless they can somehow be classified as portfolio interest (for which I do not know the definition).

Anyone can help?

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