Ahmadinejad congratulates Maduro on election victory

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has extended his congratulations to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over his victory in the presidential election.

“This great victory is another seal of approval on the successful leadership of justice-seeking, freedom-seeking and independence-seeking of Latin American leaders namely [the late president] Hugo Chavez in Venezuela,” Ahmadinejad said in his message to Maduro on Monday.

He added that Venezuelans once again asserted the importance of continuing the Bolivarian Revolution and emphasized on historical demands of all justice-seeking nations in the world for continued social, economic, scientific and cultural development in order to establish independent countries by relying on national potential.

He stated that Maduro’s election has great significance in establishing a new world order considering Venezuela’s effective position among independent nations in their freedom-seeking movement.

Venezuela’s electoral authority declared on Monday Nicolas Maduro the winner of the presidential election with 50.66 percent of the votes against 49.06 percent for his rival Henrique Capriles, who has refused to concede defeat.

Hand-picked by Venezuela’s late president Hugo Chavez to be his successor, Maduro has promised to continue the socialist policies of the former leader, who lost a two-year battle with cancer on March 5.

Meanwhile, in a message to his Venezuelan counterpart Elias Jaua, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the decision made by the Venezuelan people in the election would undoubtedly prove that the late president’s revolutionary path would be continued.

He expressed hope that the two countries would witness further improvement of relations during Maduro’s presidency.