TEHRAN (Reuters) – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Venezuelan counterpart yesterday they would defeat their common foes, the latest defiant salvo against Western countries that he says are failing in their attempts to isolate Iran. At the end of a two-day visit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez condemned military threats against Iran which the United States and Israel have said they could strike to prevent it getting a nuclear bomb.
The visit by Iran’s long time ally comes a week after Ahmadinejad received a warm reception in Lebanon — home to the militant Shi’ite group Hezbollah. Both diplomatic events are partly aimed to show Washington that Iran still has friends around the world who are willing to confront US interests. “I should use the opportunity to condemn those military threats that are being made against Iran,” Chavez told a news conference in which the two leaders called each other “brother”.
“We know that they will never be able to restrict the Islamic revolution in whatever way … We will always stand together, we will not only resist we will also stand victorious beside one another.” The countries have more than their dislike of the United States in common; they are also OPEC members whose valuable oil exports allow them a certain diplomatic muscle despite being viewed with suspicion in the West. Chavez said they signed several new agreements aimed at boosting industrial cooperation.
In words which showed his ambition to represent developing countries that feel oppressed by the West, Ahmadinejad said Iran and Venezuela was part of a revolutionary front from Latin America “stretching all the way to East Asia”.
“If one day, my brother Mr Chavez and I and a few other people were once alone in the world, today we have a long line of revolutionary officials and people standing alongside each other,” he said.