Iran, Nicaragua keen to broaden parliamentary ties

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and his Nicaraguan counterpart Rene Nunez in a meeting here in Tehran discussed bilateral ties, specially parliamentary relations. During the meeting Sunday, the Iranian and Nicaraguan speakers underlined the need to expand mutual cooperation between the two countries. The Iranian parliament speaker stressed the need for boosting the parliamentary cooperation between Iran and Nicaragua, and said, "The two countries have good cooperation in the international field which can be extended to other areas." The Nicaraguan parliament speaker, for his part, said that Iran-Nicaragua have brotherly relations, adding that he two countries are making efforts in one direction path to achieve freedom and independence. Nunez described his meeting with Larijani as positive, and said, "An Iranian parliamentary delegation will pay a visit to Nicaragua in the current year (2013)." Nunez, heading a 4-member parliamentary delegation, arrived in Tehran on Sunday. The visit by the Nicaraguan speaker and his accompanying parliamentary delegation takes place at the invitation of Larijani. During the visit to Tehran, the Nicaraguan delegation will also hold meetings with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and Chairman of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi as well as the members of Iran-Nicaragua parliamentary friendship group. The delegation also plans to pay a visit to Iran's historical city of Isfahan. Iran has been seeking to boost its ties with Latin American countries in recent years to the concern of the United States. Since taking office in 2005, President Ahmadinejad has expanded Iran's cooperation with many Latin American states, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua 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 nations 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.