Region | Iran
Iran helping Venezuela look for uranium
US foes Venezuela and Iran are working together to find uranium in the South American nation, a new sign of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's support for Tehran's nuclear program.
- Agencies
- Published: 17:22 September 25, 2009
- Image Credit: Reuters
- Obama speaks at a news conference as Sarkozy and Brown stand with him at the G20 Summit in the Pittsburgh Convention Center on Friday.
Porlamar, Venezuela: US foes Venezuela and Iran are working together to find uranium in the South American nation, a new sign of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's support for Tehran's nuclear program.
Venezuelan Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said on Friday that Iranian experts have carried out geophysical testing and aerial surveys to calculate the size Venezuela's uranium deposits.
The United States, which believes Iran is trying to build an atomic bomb, is worried about the leftist Chavez's increasingly close ties with the Middle Eastern nation.
"Our geophysical probes indicate we could have important uranium reserves," Sanz said, speaking in Venezuela's Margarita Island before the start of a two-day Africa-South America presidential summit.
Chavez says Iran has a right to develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes and has vowed to help his ally sidestep threatened fuel sanctions over the program.
Sanz said it would take three years to certify the size of the uranium reserves, if Chavez decided to do so. The reserves would need to be at least partially certified before production could begin.
Venezuela, one of the United States' main oil suppliers, has taken the first steps toward developing its own nuclear energy program with the help of Russia. Chavez said he opposes weapons of mass destruction.
Chavez this month agreed to supply Iran with 20,000 barrels per day of gasoline. The fuel supplies could be targeted by international sanctions against Iran if diplomacy fails to deter Iran's nuclear ambitions.
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