Cuban President Fidel Castro arrives Monday in Tehran in a “historic visit” to the Islamic republic aimed at increasing cooperation between the two nations, which both face US-imposed unilateral embargoes, reported the Tehran Times newspaper.
Castro will hold talks with Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Mohammad Khatami and former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, said the paper.
"This visit is economically and politically very important," Cuban Ambassador to Tehran Dario Urra Torriente said on Sunday.
"We have a common enemy, the US, which has put in place similar laws (against both countries) aimed at strangling us economically," he added.
He said a common stand against US policy was creating "political cooperation" between Havana and Tehran, adding that the United States was working to "block" European nations and others from having normal economic ties with both.
The Islamic republic, Torriente said, "plays a primary role in the eyes of Cuba."
Iran currently heads the G77 group of developing nations, which actually groups 133 countries with the aim of fostering economic cooperation.
Castro arrived in Tehran after leaving Algeria, where he held talks with his counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
He is also due to visit Malaysia and Qatar – Albawaba.com
