|
 CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez defended Iran's nuclear program Tuesday, saying Washington's firm opposition to Tehran and the invasion of Iraq both resulted from America's insatiable thirst for oil.
"You know that one of the most serious problems the world has today is the energy problem, so much so that the North American empire has invaded Iraq just to look for oil and now threatens Iran because of oil," Chavez said in a nationally televised speech, referring to the U.S. "It's an excuse by the empire, looking for energy."
Chavez, one of the most outspoken critics of U.S. foreign policy, claimed the Bush administration is falsely accusing Iran of trying to build an atomic bomb as a pretext for seizing control of the Middle Eastern nation's vast petroleum reserves.
|