to dangle a carrot in front of someone

[vandad]

Many common idiomatic expressions have actually been created using the name of fruits, .....I want to know wether there's an equivalent for this expression in Italian:"to dangle a carrot in front of someone" which means "to tempt someone with an unobtainable offer".In Persian we say "to put watermelon in someone's hand".

 

[federicoft]

'Agitare la carota' is used in Italian as well with such a meaning.

And there is another very common expression with a slightly different meaning, 'usare il bastone e la carota', to use the carrot and the stick.