Chavez and Ahmadinejad take aim at dollar

TEHRAN, Iran -- The presidents of Venezuela and Iran boasted Monday
that they will defeat U.S. imperialism together, saying the fall
of the dollar is a prelude to the end of Wa****ngton's global
dominance.

Hugo Chavez's visit to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran followed a
failed weekend attempt by the firebrand duo to push the Organization
of Petroleum Ex****ting States away from trading in the slumping
greenback.

Their proposal at an OPEC summit was overruled by other cartel
members led by Saudi Arabia, a strong U.S. ally. But the cartel
agreed to have OPEC finance ministers discuss the idea, and the two
allies' move showed their potential for stirring up problems for
the U.S.

The alliance between Chavez and Ahmadinejad has blossomed with
several exchanged visits -- Monday's was Chavez's fourth time in
Tehran in two years -- a string of technical agreements and a torrent
of rhetoric presenting their two countries as an example of how
smaller nations can stand up to the superpower.

"Here are two brother countries, united like a single fist," Chavez
said upon his arrival in Tehran, according to Venezuela's state-run
Bolivarian News Agency.

"God willing, with the fall of the dollar, the deviant U.S. imperialism
will fall as soon as possible, too," Chavez said after a two-hour
closed meeting with Ahmadinejad, the Iranian state news agency IRNA
re****ted.

As the dollar weakens, oil prices have soared toward $100 a barrel.
Chavez said over the weekend at the OPEC meeting in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, that prices would more than double to $200 if the U.S.
attacked Iran or Venezuela.

"The U.S. empire is coming down," Chavez told Venezuelan TV, calling
the European Union's euro a better option and saying Latin American
nations were also considering a common currency.

The leftist Venezuelan is a fierce critic of President Bush, and
Iran's Islamic government is in a bitter standoff with Wa****ngton
over Tehran's nuclear program. The U.S. accuses Iran of seeking to
develop nuclear weapons, a claim Tehran denies, and Iran has been
hit with two rounds of U.N. sanctions for refusing to suspend uranium
enrichment.

Ahmadinejad backed his "dear brother" Chavez in their joint fight
with the Bush administration.

"We have common viewpoints and we will stand by each other until
we capture the high peaks. God is with us and victory is awaiting
us," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by IRNA. He said he and Chavez
would stick together to defend their "nations and ideals to the
end."

During the OPEC meeting, Iran and Venezuela proposed that the cartel
begins pricing its oil in a basket of currencies, rather than just
the dollar, and wanted the summit to specifically express concern
over the dollar's slide in its final statement.

Saudi Arabia blocked those moves. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister
cautioned that even talking publicly about the currency's decline
could further hurt its value.

Chavez repeated his warnings that attacking Iran would further
increase oil prices. "It's very im****tant that they leave us in
peace, the major oil-producing countries," he said.

"If it occurs to Bush to invade Iran, I'm sure the Iranians will
resist, and they aren't going to allow them to take away their oil,
just as we Venezuelans wouldn't allow it," he said.

In Tehran, the two presidents signed four memorandums of understanding
Monday to create a joint bank, a fund, an oil industry technical
training program, and an industrial agreement, Iranian state
television said. It said Chavez then left after an official farewell
ceremony.

On Chavez's previous visit in July, the two leaders broke ground
for construction of a jointly owned petrochemical complex in Iran,
with 51 percent of it in Iranian owner****p and 49 percent to be
owned by Venezuela. The two nations also began construction of a
second petrochemical complex in Venezuela, at a total combined cost
of $1.4 billion.

Chavez and Ahmadinejad believe their petrochemical partner****p will
help Iran win markets in Latin America and Venezuela to gain access
to Asia's energy market, especially India.

Since 2001, the two countries have signed more than 180 trade
agreements, worth more than $20 billion in potential investment,
according to official re****ts.

Iran has partnered with Venezuela on several industrial projects
in the South American nation, including the production of cars,
tractors and plastic goods.

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