Correa reiterates Quito's resolve to boost ties with Iran

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa underlined his country's resolve to continue and broaden friendly ties with Iran and other independent states regardless of the Western concerns about Tehran's growing influence in Latin America."The independent state of Ecuador needs no permission for its friendly ties with any country in the world," Correa told the al-Jazeera TV network. He underlined that his country is "ready to accept any investment from Iran", and reiterated Quito's "friendly ties" with Tehran. Correa also voiced strong opposition to any foreign interference in the affairs of the independent states such as Syria and Libya. "Ecuador has been and is against any foreign meddling in the affairs of independent states, such as Libya, and believes that the Libyan people should solve their problems by themselves," he noted. In September, Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, who was on an official visit to Quito, underlined that there is no obstacle to the further development of relations between Iran with Ecuador. Rahimi made the remarks in a meeting with Correa, where he also said that Iran is interested to transfer its experiences, including in light industries, to Ecuador. Iran has in recent years expanded friendly ties with Latin America, specially in economic, trade and industrial fields. Since taking office in 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expanded Iran's cooperation with many Latin American states, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and Brazil. The strong and rapidly growing ties between Iran and Latin America have raised eyebrows in the US and its western allies since Tehran and Latin American states have forged an alliance against the imperialist and colonialist powers and are striving hard to reinvigorate their relations with the other independent countries which pursue a line of policy independent from the US.