Hugo Chavez to visit Iran early September: Envoy

TEHRAN (ISNA)-Venezuelan ambassador to Iran David Velasquez said President of the Latin American country Hugo Chavez is to have a two-day trip to Iran in the first week of September.

Chavez is to start a tour to Syria, Libya, Iran and Russia in the first week of September during which he will discuss Iran-Venezuela projects and the adverse military situation in Latin America created by the US.

He also said Chavez's September tour is in line with unity and commitment to world peace.

Speaking in a ceremony in Tehran on the occasion of Venezuelan Independence Day and the 5th anniversary of Chavez victory in the country's referendum, he said "considering current political situation, what happened in the referendum is very important to us, because it unified independent popular forces in Venezuela."

"Chavez does not want nefarious forces to rule a society, whereas today West with its imperialist forces and Washington is a threat to the world."

Elsewhere, in his remarks he moved to the coup in Honduras and said "the coup was staged with the US direct cooperation and Colombia-US agreement for establishment of a military base in the country is an obvious instance of the US interference in the region and the world."