HAVANA - Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Monday claimed in Havana that Washington supported terrorism in various parts of the world, criticizing last week's release of a former CIA operative convicted in the deadly 1976 downing of a Cuban airliner.
The Iranian diplomat, who was on a two-day visit to Cuba, decried what he called Washington's "support for terrorism in various parts of the world."
His remarks followed last week's release on bail of former CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles, who is wanted in Cuba and Venezuela for a 1976 bombing that killed all 73 people aboard a Cuban passenger jet.
Posada Carriles is being held in the United States on minor immigration charges.
"We condemn the release of Luis Posada Carriles," said Mottaki. "He is a terrorist protected by the United States," the minister said.
Posada was released on a 350,000-dollar bond pending his May 11 trial on charges of entering the United States illegally and lying in his application to become a US citizen.
A national of Venezuela, the Cuban-born Posada was convicted in Venezuela in 1976 of masterminding the downing of the airliner off Barbados, but escaped from prison in 1985.
He was sentenced to eight years' prison in Panama in a bomb plot to assassinate Castro during an Ibero-American summit in 2000, and was pardoned four years later.
Mottaki's statements echoed claims by allied Venezuela and Cuba, which accuse the United States of harboring a dangerous terrorist.
The Iranian visitor also highlighted what he said were Iran and Cuba's common views on numerous international issues.
Mottaki's Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque, reiterated Havana's support for Tehran in the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.
"We firmly oppose the pressure and blackmail against the Republic of Iran, the threatening language, and express the strong solidarity of our people with the Iranian people," Roque said.
He stressed that the Non-Aligned Movement, which represents 118 developing countries, recognizes what it calls "the basic and inalienable right of all states to develop research, production and use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes."
Mottaki, for his part, said "Iran's nuclear activity is continuing along its normal path" under the supervision of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Iranian minister's trip to Cuba follows a visit to Venezuela, a close ally and fellow member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Venezuela, Iran and Cuba all are among the most virulent critics of the administration of US President George W. Bush.
04/23/2007 20:05 GMT