Mahmoud Ahmadinejad & Hugo Chavez
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/28/AR2006072800050.html
TEHRAN (Reuters) - What does one clamorous anti-U.S. president give another for his birthday?
Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has lined up a medal and some oil investment deals for Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, but there could always be a surprise party when these two unpredictable orators team up.
Chavez, due in Iran on Friday, his 52nd birthday, will be celebrating among friends. Caracas is one of Tehran's closest allies and Iranian investors are pouring money into oil projects, construction and tractor plants in the Andean state.
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Venezuela's delegation to the International Atomic Energy Agency has staunchly backed Iran's right to produce enriched uranium, decrying U.S. accusations that Tehran's nuclear scientists want to make bombs rather than power stations.
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Iranian firms have invested $1 billion in Venezuelan ventures to date, and the industry ministry says it hopes to expand this to $9 billion in the coming years.
Although ties are warm, diplomats and analysts say Chavez knows there are limits to his relations with Iran because of his dependence on the United States as a market for his oil.
While commercial deals are acceptable, arms contracts would probably be seen as too inflammatory, they say. Venezuela is looking mainly to Russia for military hardware.
Analysts also note that Venezuela will never be a foreign policy priority for Iran, whose interests are primarily Islamic.
"There's no natural affinity because Iran's Islamist leaders have always held "Godless" communists and socialists in contempt and look down at the lax social restrictions in Latin America," said Karim Sadjadpour, Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group.
"The only common bond is a shared enmity toward the United States," he added.
