Iran Ambassador Says Mission
in Nicaragua Is Only Humanitarian
By Blake Schmidt
(Bloomberg) - Iran’s Ambassador to Nicaragua
Akbar Esmaeil Pour said the Islamic Republic
spent $1.5 million to build a hospital in
Central America’s poorest nation and refuted
claims by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton that it was making “disturbing”
inroads in the U.S.’s backyard.
Pour said there was no truth to Clinton’s
statement last year that Iran is building a
“huge” embassy in Managua as it seeks to
undermine U.S. interests in the region by
expanding its economic and political ties in
Latin America.
“We’ve built a mega-clinic, not a
mega-embassy,” Pour told reporters in his
first press conference since Iran opened the
outpost, located within a house in Managua.
“We want to provide more of these services
that are necessary and humanitarian.”
He said plans to build a hydroelectric dam
and deep-water port in Nicaragua are on hold
for “technical reasons,” without giving
further details. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
