The presidents of Iran and Venezuela launched construction of a joint petrochemical plant yesterday, strengthening an "axis of unity" between two oil-rich nations staunchly opposed to the United States. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who both often rail against Washington, also signed a series of other deals to expand economic cooperation, ranging from setting up a dairy factory in Venezuela to forming an oil company.
"The two countries will united defeat the imperialism of North America," a beaming Chavez told a news conference during an official visit to the Islamic Republic, which the United States has labelled part of an "axis of evil".
"When I come to Iran Washington gets upset," he said. The two presidents-whose countries are members of the OPEC oil producing cartel-earlier attended the ceremony to start building a methanol facility with an annual capacity of 1.65m tonnes on the Islamic Republic's Gulf coast.
"Iran and Venezuela-the axis of unity," read one of many official posters at the site near the port town of Assalouyeh, showing the two leaders hugging each other and shaking hands.