Iran, Venezuela bash US, seek stronger ties
Tuesday, 3 July 2007
TEHRAN, July 2(AFP): Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Sunday slammed arch-foe the United States and pledged to boost trade ties.
"The United States is incapable of hurting Iran and Venezuela ... cooperation between the two independent states is natural and it must be expanded," state television quoted Khamenei as telling Chavez.
"America's greatness has deteriorated and it faces many problems, independent countries should consider this and expand their cooperation."
Chavez arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a two-day visit on the last leg of a tour of nations at loggerheads with Washington, which has already taken him to Russia and Belarus.
"The election of anti-American governments in the (Latin American) region shows that US imperialism is weakening," Chavez said.
"Numerous oil and gas contracts between Iran and Venezuela show the two countries are serious in developing ties," he said, describing Iran as a "good model for other countries."
Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for stronger ties with Latin America in talks with his "ideological brother" Chavez.
"Latin American countries can expand ties with other countries especially Iran by creating joint trade companies, trade fairs and strengthening a joint investment fund," Ahmadinejad said.
Aside from their anti-US stance, the two countries enjoy warm ties and cooperation in the energy sector, with Iran OPEC's second largest crude producer and Venezuela also a major player in the cartel.
Chavez, who is accompanied by his foreign, communications, energy, industry and economy ministers, is expected to sign 20 agreements including the construction of 7,000 houses, a petrochemical plant and a vocational training centre in Venezuela.
The two leaders will inaugurate construction of a joint petrochemical plant on Monday in the southern industrial zone of Asaluyeh which will produce a million tons of methanol every year.
A similar plant would be built in Venezuela to give Iran better access to Latin American and Brazilian markets and provide easier reach to India and Pakistan for Venezuela, state news agency IRNA said.
Ahmadinejad toured Latin America in January in a bid to seek support from the region's leftist leaders who share his scornful defiance of the United States.
Chavez is the most vocal cheerleader in Latin America for Iran and its nuclear programme, which is feared by the West to be a cover for weapons development although Tehran insists it is purely peaceful.
His trip comes as Iran is being threatened with toughened UN Security Council sanctions for its continued refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, a process which makes nuclear fuel but can also be the core of an atomic bomb.
The United States, which broke diplomatic ties with Iran in 1979, has been spearheading the international campaign to stop Iran's enrichment programme and has never ruled out a military option to halt the drive.
Venezuela and several other Latin American countries are members of the Non-Aligned Movement that at a summit last year emphatically backed Iran's "right" to nuclear energy.
Venezuela was alone in September 2005 in opposing a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that found Iran in violation of nuclear safeguards, paving the way for its referral to the Security Council.
Before heading to Iran, Chavez met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko and urged a global revolution against Washington.
"The United States is incapable of hurting Iran and Venezuela ... cooperation between the two independent states is natural and it must be expanded," state television quoted Khamenei as telling Chavez.
"America's greatness has deteriorated and it faces many problems, independent countries should consider this and expand their cooperation."
Chavez arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a two-day visit on the last leg of a tour of nations at loggerheads with Washington, which has already taken him to Russia and Belarus.
"The election of anti-American governments in the (Latin American) region shows that US imperialism is weakening," Chavez said.
"Numerous oil and gas contracts between Iran and Venezuela show the two countries are serious in developing ties," he said, describing Iran as a "good model for other countries."
Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for stronger ties with Latin America in talks with his "ideological brother" Chavez.
"Latin American countries can expand ties with other countries especially Iran by creating joint trade companies, trade fairs and strengthening a joint investment fund," Ahmadinejad said.
Aside from their anti-US stance, the two countries enjoy warm ties and cooperation in the energy sector, with Iran OPEC's second largest crude producer and Venezuela also a major player in the cartel.
Chavez, who is accompanied by his foreign, communications, energy, industry and economy ministers, is expected to sign 20 agreements including the construction of 7,000 houses, a petrochemical plant and a vocational training centre in Venezuela.
The two leaders will inaugurate construction of a joint petrochemical plant on Monday in the southern industrial zone of Asaluyeh which will produce a million tons of methanol every year.
A similar plant would be built in Venezuela to give Iran better access to Latin American and Brazilian markets and provide easier reach to India and Pakistan for Venezuela, state news agency IRNA said.
Ahmadinejad toured Latin America in January in a bid to seek support from the region's leftist leaders who share his scornful defiance of the United States.
Chavez is the most vocal cheerleader in Latin America for Iran and its nuclear programme, which is feared by the West to be a cover for weapons development although Tehran insists it is purely peaceful.
His trip comes as Iran is being threatened with toughened UN Security Council sanctions for its continued refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, a process which makes nuclear fuel but can also be the core of an atomic bomb.
The United States, which broke diplomatic ties with Iran in 1979, has been spearheading the international campaign to stop Iran's enrichment programme and has never ruled out a military option to halt the drive.
Venezuela and several other Latin American countries are members of the Non-Aligned Movement that at a summit last year emphatically backed Iran's "right" to nuclear energy.
Venezuela was alone in September 2005 in opposing a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that found Iran in violation of nuclear safeguards, paving the way for its referral to the Security Council.
Before heading to Iran, Chavez met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko and urged a global revolution against Washington.