Tehran, Caracas Exemplify South-South Cooperation

Visiting Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said on Thursday Iran and Venezuela are neither pursuing any covert plan to form a strategic alliance against a third country nor do they intend to undermine the interests of others.
   Speaking in a meeting with Iranian expatriates residing in Caracas, Khatami said the unity between the nations and governments of Iran and Venezuela will inevitably reduce the influence of certain world powers, IRNA reported.
   He stressed that close Tehran-Caracas relations will never harm any country, noting that cooperation between Iran and Venezuela will be beneficial to both sides and can serve as a model for South-South cooperation.
   Khatami described the US policy to launch a military attack against Iraq as wrong and said those who think they can impose their hegemony upon other countries are mistaken. He said the US officials should revise their policies toward Iraq and consider the realities.
   He added that the US government is spending billions of dollars for the Iraq campaign from the taxes paid by Americans, maintaining that the Americans have already sensed that the money they are paying as taxes is being spent for having US soldiers killed in Iraq.
   Referring to Venezuela’s oil reserves and its special status in Latin America as well as Iran’s strategic position in the Middle East, the president said mutual relations will secure the interests of both sides and regional countries.
   Khatami reiterated the need to encourage the participation of the private sectors of both sides in each other’s markets.
   Commenting on the victory of President Hugo Chavez in the referendum, Khatami said the extensive public turnout in the referendum resulted in the failure of the interference of foreign powers and the coup guided by external powers.

NGDIR