Ahmad Sobhani, general director of America at the Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry, praised Monday Cuba's performance as a president of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and extolled the island's prestige worldwide.

"Cuba for its surface and population is a small country, but with a lot of international political leading role, and we have long heard its name as a country that have always been ahead of the Third World," Sobhani told Prensa Latina.

The Iranian official stressed that Havana was a successful venue of the 14th NAM Summit held in September 2006, and thanks to the Cuban presidency, a conference from that forum on multi-cultural affairs, organized by Iran, was also fruitful.

"We have many consultations with Cuba on Latin American countries and several affairs of our zone, and they have always been very satisfactory for us," he said.

Sobhani identified the Caribbean country as "a very kind country," whose capacity of resistance to the US economic blockade states that "the most difficult periods have already finished and the island is now trengthening."

According to the Iranian diplomat, Cuba's authority allows him be a door for Iran in his aim of getting closer to Latin America, not only from the NAMs like an individual title.

(PL)