Middle East News

Ortega seeks closer ties to Iran

Feb 13, 2007, 3:47 GMT

Managua - Nicaragua's leftist president Daniel Ortega hailed Iran's Islamic revolution as comparable to Nicaragua's own in the same year, according to a letter released Monday and sent to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the 28th anniversary of Iran's Islamic Republic.

Ortega, who was inaugurated on January 10, first led the country from 1979-90 in a period marked by a civil war between his Marxist- leaning Sandinista regime and US-sponsored Contra insurgents, in which more than 50,000 people died.

'Our revolutions ... are united because we triumphed in the same glorious year of 1979, and because after decades of intense struggle and sacrifice, attained freedom and democracy for out people,' Ortega said in the letter, released by his spokeswoman and wife Rosario Murillo.

Ortega said both countries had confronted 'decisive battles by transcending the politics of imperialism, and by validating alternatives of friendship and cooperation.'

The Sandinista leader also reiterated his desire for closer ties with Iran. Ahmadinejad met with Ortega in Managua on January 13, signing bilateral trade agreements, three days after Ortega's inauguration.

'In Nicaragua, in Iran, we will strengthen our relations, expand our trade, our cooperation and promote mechanisms and instruments to make reality a new era of justice, solidarity, well being and prosperity for our people,' the letter said.

Iran on Sunday celebrated the 28th anniversary of its own revolution.