(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-27 20:57

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Vilified by world leaders wary of his nuclear ambitions, Iran's president is turning to South American leftists who are embracing him as an energy and trade partner and counterweight to US influence.

Evo Morales, President of Bolivia, right, shakes hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the floor of the General Assembly the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007. [AP]

On the heels of a UN General Assembly appearance in which he said Iran will ignore demands by "arrogant powers" to curb its nuclear program, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was headed to Bolivia on Thursday to establish first-time diplomatic relations with the Andean nation.

He and President Evo Morales were expected to sign accords that Bolivian officials say could help them better tap the continent's second-largest natural gas reserves after Venezuela's and drum up urgently needed agricultural investment.

Ahmadinejad then heads to Caracas to meet Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, who has defended Iran's claims that its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes.

Ahmadinejad's trip south underscores his strengthening links to Latin American nations that also include Nicaragua and Ecuador even as the United States tries to isolate him internationally.

"It's a connection that is growing stronger all the time," said Alberto Garrido, a Venezuelan writer and political analyst. "It's Iran's answer to the United States on its own home turf. The United States is in the Middle East, so Iran is in Latin America."

Energy experts doubt the new Bolivia-Iran alliance will let Morales deliver on his promise of using gas profits to ease grinding poverty in South America's poorest nation. But by opening diplomatic ties, Iran and Morales' "anti-imperialist" administration appear to be on the same political page.

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