Venezuelan president to visit Iran soon

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that he will pay a visit to Iran in the near future. Maduro, who is currently on a tour of Europe, said that he has informed Iran's President-elect Hassan Rouhani in a recent telephone conversation with him. "I held a phone conversation with the Iranian president-elect and congratulated him on his election win and we will soon meet each other to show our determination to continue close bilateral ties," the Venezuelan president said on Tuesday. Maduro did not disclose any further details of his upcoming visit to Iran. Iran has in recent years expanded friendly ties with Latin America, specially in economic, trade and industrial fields. Since taking office in 2005, President Ahmadinejad has expanded Iran's cooperation with many Latin American states, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Cuba. Iran's strong and rapidly growing ties with Latin America, specially with Venezuela, 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. The exact date of Maduro's visit to Tehran has yet to be set but he is expected to travel to Iran before the end of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency (August 3) to thank him as a friend of the Venezuelan nation