Ahmadinejad in Caracas on official visit

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has arrived in Caracas on the fourth leg of his official visit to Latin American and African countries.

Ahmadinejad will attend an official welcome ceremony with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez on Wednesday.

The Iranian and Venezuelan presidents, two outspoken critics of Washington and Tel Aviv policies, will hold talks aimed at enhancing bilateral cooperation.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro welcomed Ahmadinejad at Simon Bolivar airport in Caracas.

“We have a solid foundation, a solid base that we have created over this decade in our relationship, and it shows how false are the attacks of the world empire,” Maduro said Monday.

Before arriving in the Venezuelan capital, the Iranian president paid visits to Gambia, Brazil and Bolivia.

Iran and Venezuela maintain friendly ties in various areas including economic, trading, energy and industrial fields.

Other than Venezuela, the Islamic Republic of Iran enjoys growing relations with other Latin American countries namely Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador.

Ahmadinejad’s visit to Latin American and African countries comes as Washington moves to prepare a new slate of sanctions against Iran over the country’s nuclear issue.

Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program led to a major breakthrough when the UN nuclear watchdog proposed that Iran should send most of its domestically produced low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad in exchange for metal fuel rods for its Tehran medical research reactor.

Iran has officially announced that it will accept the basics of the proposal but has sought certain modifications to the offer, saying the country’s enriched uranium supply will not be sent out of its borders due to the lack of confidence in the West.

The Islamic Republic says a guaranteed supply of fuel for the Tehran research reactor is the country’s major concern.

Iran says as both sides of the deal have their stockpiles ready, there is no problem with the simultaneous exchange of Tehran’s LEU with the 20 percent-enriched uranium inside the Iranian territory.