Date:03/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/03/stories/2008090377771800.htm

International

Iran seeks deeper ties with Latin America

Atul Aneja

DUBAI: Iran has pledged to deepen its commercial and energy ties with Bolivia as part of an effort to acquire a higher profile in Latin America.

Welcoming the visiting Bolivian President Evo Morales in Tehran, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: The two revolutionary nations and the governments of Iran and Bolivia are natural allies and will boost their relations in the fields of commerce, industry, agriculture, gas, oil and politics.

Mr. Morales is the first indigenous origin President of Bolivia, which has the largest gas reserves in Latin America. Iran has already pledged a $1.1-billion aid package to Bolivia, which is trying to develop its gas industry.

Iran views Left-leaning Bolivia as part of an anti-American revolutionary bloc in Latin America, which also includes Cuba, Nicaragua, Paraguay and energy-rich Venezuela. Mr. Ahmadinejad has paid four visits to Latin America in the last three years, while Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has been visited Tehran six times.

Mr. Morales said he supported Mr. Ahmadinejad's stance against imperialism and defending the rights of the Iranian people.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said during his meeting with Mr. Morales that assertion of rights by the people of Latin America has displeased the West. The awakening of the South American nations who are seeking their rights is an auspicious event which certainly will not make [big] powers happy, he said. Mr. Morales arrived in Tehran after completing a brief visit to Libya.