Agence France Presse
May 10, 2001, Thursday
TEHRAN, May 10 |
A three-day landmark visit to Iran by
Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro ended Thursday with
both sides determined to bolster ties in the face of
US-imposed unilateral embargoes.
The 74-year-old Cuban president, making
his first-ever trip to the Islamic republic, was received with
the greatest of honours by top Iranian officials for
high-level talks aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation. Just
hours after the red-carpet welcoming ceremony in the former
imperial Saad-Abad palace in northern Tehran, Castro said he
felt
"at home," in Tehran "among the revolutionary
people of Iran." Before leaving the Iranian capital Thursday,
Castro and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Khatami, affirmed
during a press conference that the trip had been "very
constructive."
In a final statement, both nations
"vowed to continue with their efforts for the establishment of
a fair economic regime in which third-world countries are
permitted to take steps towards attaining affluence and social
and economic development.
"Iran and Cuba consider the imposing of
economic pressures as well as sanctions against independent
countries to be against human rights, and (we) condemn
measures by certain nations which aim at imposing their power
(on other countries."
During Castro's meeting with Iranian
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday, Khamenei
proposed an "Irano-Cuban cooperation" against the United
States.
Referring to "US hegemony," Khamenei
said Tehran considers the "American regime as an arrogant
power, seeking a unipolar world, to which we seriously object.
"The United States is weak and extremely
vulnerable today," Khamenei stressed, adding that "US grandeur
can be broken, and if this takes place, it will be a service
rendered to mankind and even the American people.
"Our resistance against US hegemony is
based on our Islamic beliefs, since in Islam, resistance
against injustice is considered a value."
Castro for his part said Havana is not
"afraid of America, and the Cuban nation, 40 years after its
revolution, is now stronger then ever.
"Iran and Cuba, in
cooperation with each other, can bring America to its knees.
The US regime is very weak, and we are witnessing this
weakness from close up," Castro affirmed.
During his trip, the Cuban leader also
held meetings with Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi,
parliament speaker Mehdi Karubi, as well as former president
Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani.
He also received an honorary doctorate
from a Tehran university for his "contributions to justice,
humanist ideals and the fight against discrimination."
Castro told journalists before leaving
Tehran that he was "totally reassured about Iran. There is
great hope for the future of relations between Cuba and Iran.
I am leaving with many unforgettable memories."
Iran and Cuba, both under a unilateral
embargo by Washington, have had close relations since the
1980s, notably in the medical and farming sectors.
But the two nations, which have been
branded terrorist states by Washington, have weak trade links
running under 20 million dollars a year.
The Cuban president headed for Malaysia,
and is due to visit Qatar on his return journey to Havana. |