President of Iran given warm welcome in Venezuela

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, has kick started his five days, four-nation Latin American tour on Sunday with Venezuela. The President of Iran and his entourage have reached the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, at around 6:30 pm ET. At the Simon Bolivar International airport, Caracas, Ahmadinejad is said to be given a red-carpet welcome by the Vice President of Venezuela and other officials. This is his fifth state visit.

Iran and Venezuela are counted among the top exporters of crude oil. They also have more than 250 trade agreements between them, apart from the fact that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez (President of Venezuela) are long-time allies.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s current visit to Latin American countries comes as a no surprise to experts. Currently, Iran is under triple threats – growing (economic) unrest at home, increasing isolation from the world and intense international threat to pull out from nuclear program or face more economic sanctions. In such a scenario, it is opined that Iran has little choice but to ramp up economic, military and political support from nations having similar political views as Iran.

But not everybody is happy in Venezuela about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s state visit. Diego Arria, an upcoming political leader in the opposition, is quite critical and terms the trip as a “provocation” on Iran’s part and embarrassment for Venezuela.

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit Latin America

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the head of the state of Iran, is scheduled for a four-nation tour of Latin America, beginning Sunday. His first stop would be Caracas (Venezuela) where he is set to meet his long-time friend and ally President Hugo Chavez. The rest of his itinerary includes Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua. The tour is seen to aim at obtaining outside support and economic ties for Iran which is under intense international pressure to stop its nuclear program.

On his five day tour, the Iranian President may also visit Guatemala looking for new economic partnerships. The President is most likely to be accompanied by his Energy Minister, Majid Namjoo. He has claimed that the tour is for promoting bilateral trade and finding new trading partners in Latin American nations.

Interestingly, Ahmadinejad’s tour does not include Brazil, which is a major economic powerhouse in the region and with whom Iran has strong trading ties. Neither does it include other big Latin American countries like Argentina, Mexico or Columbia where the United States enjoys support.

The United States opines that the upcoming tour is unlikely to generate interest in Latin American countries against the backdrop of sanctions and Iran’s nuclear program.