Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei received here Saturday afternoon visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his accompanying delegation. In the meeting, the Supreme Leader said the whole Islamic world and Arab nations as well as the free nations of the world support Lebanese Hezbollah and due to the brave resistance of the group against the US and the Zionist regime, their leader has become a very popular character in the Arab and Islamic world.| “...the Zionist regime invasion of Lebanon was a pre-planned war by the US...” |
The Supreme Leader called the current crimes of the Zionist regime in Lebanon as a rare example of crimes and added, in such situation the conscience of the so-called civilized world and the organizations that claim to support human rights and democracy do not get offended and do not protest. Confirming Venezuelan president remarks that the US era is coming to an end in the world, the ayatollah noted that this reality can be seen right now and the number of nations and countries who resist against the US are increasing.
Referring to President Chavez stances on the world issues, Ayatollah Khamenei said they reminded the stances of Simon Bolivar, the Latin American Revolutionary figure. The ayatollah also emphasized the necessity of expansion of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in different fields.
President Chavez, for his part, by expressing pleasure over his new visit to Iran, called Bolivarian revolution of Venezuela as a brother of the Islamic revolution in Iran and said, " We intend to expand relations with Iran in different areas." Chavez said the American empire is coming to an end and the increasing number of governments in Latin America opposed to the US policy is an evidence to prove claim. He emphasized the necessity of consolidation among countries with the same stance and opposed to the US policies and pointed out that such countries should expand their cooperation and increase their ability and potentials and never be frightened by the US threats.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also attended the meeting.
President Hugo Chavez at the head of a high ranking delegation arrived here Saturday afternoon to pay an official 2-day visit to Iran.