The Islamic Republic praised communist atheist dictator Fidel Castro as an ally against the US - and Israel

La Nueva Cuba:

New Cuban Ambassador to Tehran Fernando N. Garcia conferred here Sunday with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and submitted a copy of his credentials to him.

According to the Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Bureau, at the meeting the two sides reviewed the latest developments in mutual ties and explored avenues for expansion of ties between Tehran and Havana.

Describing the Cuban president as among prominent international politicians, Mottaki said Fidel Castro taught a very good lesson to world countries particularly those in Latin America on how to stand firm in their positions.

Iran considers Fidel Castro as a valuable asset for the Latin American nations, Mottaki said, adding that the comments made by Cuban president about late Imam Khomeini showed his firm stance which is very valuable for Iran.

Calling the two sides' cooperation at mutual and international levels as very good, he underlined the two sides common stands on various issues and called for expansion of all-out relations in political, economic and commercial fields.

The new Cuban ambassador, for his part, called for consolidation of ties between the two countries, and for more concrete strides to be taken towards expansion of mutual relations.

Iran's deeply-rooted culture and civilizations have attracted the attention of numerous countries, he said adding that the triumph of the Islamic Revolution in Iran was a turning point in the history of human kind.