Ali Reza Salari, Iran's deputy foreign minister for the Americas said on Friday that the Iranian delegation visiting Mexico is to study greater possibilities for realizing new potentials in trade and tourism with the Latin American nation. "With Mexico, there is absolutely no political problem between us. No cultural problems. It shows we have many shortcomings in our trade relations," Salari said. He said the annual trade with Brazil is USD 2b, while the annual trade with...

MEXICO CITY - Iran is exploring ways to expand anemic trade with Mexico as part of stepped up efforts to deepen ties with Latin America, a top Iranian diplomat said Thursday. Annual trade between Mexico and Iran is a mere $50 million, compared to $2 billion with Brazil, said Ali Reza Salari, Iran's deputy foreign minister for the Americas. "We are here to investigate, why so low?" Reza Salari told reporters in Mexico City, where he was to meet with diplomats and business leaders....

Venezuela on Monday congratulated Iran on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed shah, saying Caracas shares Tehran's "ideals of independence and sovereignty." "We joyfully celebrate the memorable, popular uprising against the Shah in February 1979, a historic date... in fanning the revolutionary hopes of all the people of the world struggling for emancipation," a foreign ministry statement said. President Hugo Chavez "feels...

The Iranian effort, which has been joined by Venezuela in a joint effort to establish a strong terror base in the region, is especially palpable in countries ruled by anti-American left wing regimes such as Cuba, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Bolivia. Nonetheless, Iran has also increased its presence in Mexico and Colombia, which are considered more U.S. friendly. The rate of the increase of Iranian personnel in Mexican and Colombian embassies were described by the New York sources as...

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Senators Tuesday that although much attention was given to Russia's recent courting of some Latin American countries, he is more concerned about new activities of Iran in the region. Secretary Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee he is worried about efforts by the Iranian government to gain influence in Latin America. "I'm concerned about the level of, frankly, subversive activity the Iranians are carrying on in a number of...

Yesterday, the Iranian news agency FARS reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be attending celebrations at Tehran University to celebrate the end of the Gaza war and the victory of the Palestinians over the Zionist army. According to the report, Bolivian President Juan Evo Morales and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have also been invited to the ceremony, to be held yesterday by Iran's Islamic Students Society. FARS cited Esmail Ahmadi, public relations director for the...

WASHINGTON - Outgoing CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said yesterday that the most pressing issues facing his successor include Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon and surging violence in Mexico - but not the war in Iraq. Hayden also defended the agency's use of harsh interrogation methods and said he had advised the incoming administration against going too far in dismantling the agency's counterterrorism programs. "These techniques worked," Hayden said of the agency's...

La Paz, Bolivia.- The Government of Iran accelerates cooperation to Bolivia in order to fulfill with agreements signed between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Evo Morales on September, 2007. On September 27, 2007, Ahmadineyad visited La Paz - Bolivia to meet his counterpart Evo Morales. In that opportunity they signed a program of cooperation US$1.100 million. On September 3, 2008, the Bolivian president visited Teheran in order to deepen his bilateral relations to accelerate the execution of...

The president said he has asked the government's communication department to inaugurate the newspaper on Jan. 22, with the objective of "reporting the truth". Morales also said Sunday that Bolivia plans a new state television station with financial backing from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. He did not say when he plans to launch the station. Officials have previously mentioned the possibility of Iran backing a TV station in Bolivia. ...

An Argentine judge on Tuesday seized a property belonging to a former Iranian diplomat who is sought on charges related to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center. The judicial order stems from a million-dollar lawsuit for damages by a survivor of the bombing, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200 others, Prosecutor Alberto Nisman told Reuters. Argentina has formally accused Iran of masterminding the attack and is seeking the arrest of high-ranking Iranian government...