Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez gave his support to Iran’s nuclear ambitions during the first day of his two-day trip to Iran. “We are certain that Iran, as it has shown, will not back down in its effort to obtain what is a sovereign right of the people: to have all the equipment and structures to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes,” Chavez said Saturday. Chavez’s visit is part of his six-nation visit to counter U.S. influence. During his visit to Syria, Chavez signed an agreement with its President, Bashar al-Assad, which stated that Israel should cede the Golan to Syria.

Iran state media quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying during his meeting with Chavez that their two countries have “important missions to help the oppressed and revolutionary nations and to expand the anti-imperialist front in the world. Time has passed for arrogant powers to have influence on revolutionary nations.”