"Deepening and development of relations between Tehran and Caracas has always been demanded by Venezuela's late president and he succeeded in taking long strides towards the expansion of ties between the two countries," Rahimi said in a meeting with the Venezuelan Ambassador to Tehran on Sunday night.
He also extended his condolences to the Venezuelan people and government over the death of President Chavez, and expressed the hope that his successor would continue his path in the interest of the Latin American nation.
Iran has in recent years expanded friendly ties with Latin America, specially in economic, trade and industrial fields.
Since taking office in 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expanded Iran's cooperation with many Latin American states, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Cuba.
Iran's strong and rapidly growing ties with Latin America, specially with Venezuela, have raised eyebrows in the US and its western allies since Tehran and Latin nations have forged an alliance against the imperialist and colonialist powers and are striving hard to reinvigorate their relations with the other independent countries which pursue a line of policy independent from the US.
