(IRNA) - Visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, Sunday expressed confidence Iran and Nicaragua will remain allies forever.
The president's remarks were made during an official ceremony Sunday night awarding him Nicaragua's highest medal of honor, the Liberty Medal, and the Ruben Dario Medal in the field of art.
He left Managua for Quito, Ecuador, later in the night, reports Trend.
The president, accompanied by a high-ranking delegation, arrived in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday morning on the first leg of a tour of three Latin American states. He and his delegation left Caracas for the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, Sunday morning.
Addressing well-wishers in Managua, the president said the peoples of Iran and Nicaragua were determined to put an end to the backwardness that grips peoples of the region as well as reinforce their unity and determination to achieve progress.
Felicitating President Daniel Ortega's comeback in Nicaraguan politics, President Ahmadinejad said his recent election is a testament to the Nicaraguan spirit of independence and quest for power.
"You have proved that you are a freedom-loving nation which opposes oppression," the Iranian president told the cheering people in Managua, assuring them that Iran would be with them in their struggle for all time.
President Ahmadinejad said he felt he "was not a stranger" in Nicaragua despite the distance between the two countries.
Stressing that global imperialism was against the progress of nations, President Ahmadinejad voiced Tehran's readiness to share its experiences and capabilities in various fields with Managua.
He expressed the wish that global imperialism would one day end and that the two revolutionary nations of Iran and Nicaragua would stay as allies and achieve their goals.
Meanwhile, President Ahmadinejad's remarks indicating confidence Managua would be able to solve its problems with the help of Tehran was highly welcomed by President Ortega.