Iran’s Ahmadinejad to begin international tour on Wednesday

Iran Focus: London, Sep. 12 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will travel to Senegal on Wednesday on the first leg of a world tour that includes visits to the Cuban capital Havana and the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Iran Focus

London, Sep. 12 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will travel to Senegal on Wednesday on the first leg of a world tour that includes visits to the Cuban capital Havana and the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

On Wednesday, Ahmadinejad will arrive in Dakar for a one-day visit during which he will meet Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade.

From there, Ahmadinejad will head to Havana where he will meet senior Cuban officials and participate in the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) states.

Next, the hard-line President will travel to Caracas where he will meet and hold talks with Venezuelan officials including President Hugo Chavez. The two states are expected to sign several bilateral agreements during the visit.

Caracas and Tehran, both key members of the oil cartel OPEC, have developed strong strategic ties. Venezuela backs Iran in its nuclear standoff with the West. Chavez went on an official visit to Iran in late July.

The next stop in Ahmadinejad’s world tour will be at the UN headquarters in New York where the radical President will deliver a speech before the General Assembly and meet a number of world leaders.

Iranian opposition activists have already announced that they plan to protest outside the UN against Ahmadinejad’s visit.