Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defended his government's strategy of prioritizing Latin America in Iran's foreign policy.
In a radio program broadcast yesterday, Ahmadinejad lashed out at critics of his government's foreign policies. "One of these gentlemen (rival candidates) still cannot understand world affairs, and this is why he asks us why we have focused on Latin America," Ahmadinejad said.
His remarks came after presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Moussavi slammed the Ahmadinejad government's policy of getting closer to Latin American states.
"Instead of investing in Iran's neighboring countries, the government has focused on Latin American states and focused on them. The president has obviously failed to get his priorities right," said Moussavi in his first televised speech.
"When the Western countries were trying to isolate Iran, we went to the U.S.'s backyard, and I even delivered my strongest anti-U.S. speech in Nicaragua," Ahmadinejad struck back at Mousavi.
"Our active presence in Latin America was a very wise move," he added.
Source: Fars, Iran, May 28, 2009
