Iran, Venezuela Ink Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Ties

2009-05-01 05:24:21

TEHRAN, April 30 (Xinhua) --

Iran and Venezuela signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on bilateral defense ties on Thursday.

Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar and his Venezuelan counterpart Ramon Carrizalez signed the document in Caracas, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The contract underlines an expansion of defense cooperation in education and exchanging experiences on defense issues, according to the report.

Najjar expressed Iran's readiness to assist Venezuela in developing its defense capabilities, it said.

Najjar also met Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who highlighted Iran's "positive and constructive" role in the Middle East and its position in the foreign policy of Venezuela, according to the report.

Heading a high-ranking defense delegation, Najjar arrived in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Monday on a three-day visit.

During the visit, the Iranian defense minister described defense ties between the two nations as "comprehensive and strategic," and expressed Iran's readiness to participate in joint defense projects and to share Iran's defense experiences with Venezuela.

This is Najjar's first visit to Venezuela and also the first by an Iranian defense minister to Venezuela after the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

The two countries have developed strong ties in recent years in energy production, economy and industry, especially after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in 2005.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.