Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated an Iranian-funded hospital and two milk-processing plants on Tuesday in a goodwill visit in which his leftist host defended Iran’s “peaceful” nuclear aspirations.
Ahmadinejad and Bolivian President Evo Morales also signed an agreement in which Iran committed itself to help Bolivia investigate industrializing lithium, the lightweight metal used in electric car and other batteries. This poor Andean country possesses half the world’s known lithium reserves.
Morales and a military honor guard received Ahmadinejad at the airport, and a small band of Bolivian Muslims hailed the two as they arrived together at the presidential palace.
PHOTO : REUTERS
The Iranian president’s strained relations with Washington are shared by Bolivia’s first indigenous president, who expelled the US ambassador last year. Ahmadinejad called Morales “a friend and brother” on Tuesday and praised the two countries’ cooperation “despite the opposition of imperialism,” a reference to the US.
He previously visited in September 2007 as part of his effort to expand commercial and diplomatic ties in South America.
Iran then offered a US$1 billion mixture of aid and credit, much of which Morales hopes to use to expand Bolivia’s natural gas production, the country’s main revenue source.
One agreement they signed on Tuesday added Iran to a list of countries including France, South Korea and Japan that are vying for a role in helping Bolivia commercialize its lithium, which is concentrated in a remote southern salt flat.
Another commits Iran to build two dialysis centers.
Morales and Ahmadinejad also penned a joint declaration “recognizing the legitimate right of all countries to use and develop nuclear energy for peaceful ends, within the framework of international rights.”
After having lunch with Morales, Ahmadinejad inaugurated a hospital and two milk-processing plants in other parts of the country by video conference from the capital La Paz.
Tehran donated funding for the seven-story Red Crescent hospital and pasteurizing equipment for the plants.
Iran has also given equipment for a state-run TV station, sold Bolivia 700 tractors made in Venezuela and provided financing for a state-run cement plant.
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