Iran shops for support in Latin America

IRAN is quietly seeking to expand its ties with Latin America in what US officials and regional experts say is an effort to beat economic sanctions and gain access to much-needed markets and raw materials.

The new diplomatic offensive, which comes amid rising tensions with Washington and European powers, includes a four-nation swing through South and Central America this month by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The visit reinforces recent commitments by Iran to invest millions of dollars in economic development projects for the region, from a mining joint venture in Ecuador to factories for petrochemicals and small-arms ammunition in Venezuela.
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Iran has begun 2012 by defiantly announcing the testing of new missiles and an advance in its nuclear program, after the US unleashed fresh sanctions that sent the Islamic republic's currency to a record low.

Ten days of Iranian naval war games were due to end last night, with ships practising ''a new tactical formation'' to be used to close the world's most important oil route, the Strait of Hormuz, if so ordered, navy spokesman Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

Tehran announced the successful testing of the Iranian-built Ghader ground-to-ship cruise missile, with a range of 200 kilometres, in the war games.

Earlier the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation had announced that its scientists ''tested the first nuclear fuel rod produced from uranium ore deposits inside the country''.

The statement suggested Iran had made progress in becoming a self-sufficient nuclear nation and had technological prowess the West thought it lacked.

Mr Ahmadinejad granted a live interview on December 13 with Venezuela's state-owned broadcaster Telesur, in which he hailed the close ties between the two countries and boasted of Iran's advances in military technology, including drones. ''No one dares attack Iran,'' he said.

Venezuela, Iran's closest ally in the region, had its largest petroleum company hit with US sanctions last year over its ties with Iran. Smaller countries such as Nicaragua and Bolivia have seen little of the millions promised by Iran over the past decade.

''Iran has been actively working for years to expand its ties and influence in the Western hemisphere, and it has found willing partners in the region's anti-American despots,'' said Florida Republican congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

But a report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington questioned whether Iran ever could succeed at building an effective support network in the region.

''While Iran's overtures to peripheral states have the potential to weaken US attempts to contain and isolate Iran, Tehran's web is fragile and possibly illusory,'' it said.

Former US intelligence officials say the presence of members of the Quds Force, the elite special operations unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, and other military personnel in diplomatic missions enhances Iran's ability to carry out covert activities. They say the Quds Force was behind the alleged plot to hire Mexican drug gangs to assassinate a Saudi diplomat in Washington.

WASHINGTON POST, AFP