‘US frets over Iran, Latin America clout’

A US State Department official says Iran’s growing clout in Latin America has greatly concerned Washington which believes Iranian influence is “not positive” for that region.

“The United States is concerned and is very alert, because Iran’s influence is not positive for the region,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson said in Peru on Saturday.

Speaking to the national Radio Programas del Peru, she further said the United States is interested more than ever in Latin America.

“There is a lot of interest in Latin America, not only for being part of a global world, but also because in the United States we have a Latino population that is growing,” she added.

According to local press reports, Jacobson will meet with Peru’s government officials, business people and other citizens before moving on to Argentina.

Iran has been seeking to expand relations with Latin American countries over the past few years, describing the endeavor as one of its major foreign policy strategies.

The country’s rising popularity in Latin America has raised major concerns in the United States, which regards the region as its strategic backyard and traditional sphere of influence.

Leaders in all four Latin American nations have enhanced diplomatic and trade ties with Iran in recent years while their relations with the United States have been downgraded amid popular demands for an end to dependence on Washington.

On January 6, the US warned Latin American states against expanding diplomatic and business ties with Iran, expressing concern over “Iran’s outreach to the Western Hemisphere.”