US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland
Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/219744.html
The US has warned Latin American states against a further expansion of diplomatic and business ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“We are making absolutely clear to countries around the world that now is not the time to be deepening ties, not security ties, not economic ties, with Iran,'' US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Friday.
The US State Department statement comes ahead of Iranian President Ahmadinejad's planned visits to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador next week.
Meanwhile, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen stated that the forthcoming Iranian president's tour of Latin America is proof of Tehran's expanding interest in the region.
“Ahmadinejad's desire to strengthen ties with anti-American rulers and expand Iranian influence in the Western Hemisphere directly threatens US security interests,” she said in a statement.
“This is a threat which we cannot ignore,'' Ros-Lehtinen noted.
She also pledged the Obama administration to hold hearings on the matter to discuss what Washington is doing to “counter Iranian outreach in the Western Hemisphere.”
This is while Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday criticized the United States for deliberately and recklessly raising tensions in the Persian Gulf.
“The Yankees are determined to provoke wars, provoke tensions,'' Chavez said on television during a visit to the central state of Portuguesa.
President Ahmadinejad will kick off a four-nation trip to Latin America next week.
During his five-day trip, the Iranian president will discuss "bilateral ties and regional and international issues" with Latin American leaders.
President Ahmadinejad is also scheduled to attend the inauguration ceremony of the recently re-elected Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega. Stops in Cuba and Ecuador will round off the tour.
Leaders in all the four Latin American countries have in recent years built up diplomatic and trade ties with Iran, while their relations with the United States have become frosty as their people have been demanding an end to dependence on Washington.
With friends like the US government, who needs enemies? I trust the Iranian government a million times more than the US government!! All the US does is dictate what the nations of the World can and can’t do and it is always so long as it is a one sided deal in US favor. This type of dictatorship / Oligarchy / fascism will be the death of all foreign relations to the US, oh, with the exception of Israel, whom the US and UK created as an excuse to steal the rich oil fields through out the Middle East.
ReplyDeleteThe people of the World reject US Imperialism even in the nations that the US calls friends. We the people know that US / UK money has corrupted the political process in every country that calls the US a friend, but what the US government doesn’t know and cannot stop is the will of the people. We are no longer constrained by your corporate media or propaganda into a narrow minded one direction world. We no longer fear you, we have awoken and will defeat you. Make no mistake about it, the people already know what to do when the time comes. I will point out to the US friendly governments in the World that your on borrowed time, the people will overthrow you in one way or another. Viva Venezuela! Viva Bolivia! Viva Cuba! Viva Nicaragua! Viva Ecuador! & Viva Palestina!!