Ahmadinejad:US hiding failures in Iraq by accusing Iran

Iran's hardline president said the United States is trying to hide its failures in Iraq by accusing his nation of funding Iraqi insurgents, and he pledged to form an anti-U.S. alliance with "revolutionary countries" in Latin America.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is touring Latin America seeking new allies, ducked a direct question by reporters Sunday about whether Iran was arming and supporting insurgents responsible for countless attacks in Iraq.

Speaking on the sidelines of his meeting with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Ahmadinejad said the charges were merely an attempt by the United States "to cover their failures by other means."

"But they have been discredited and they can't recover from that," he said.

Ahmadinejad said the United States' "attitude won't solve their problems" in Iraq, and he accused the United States of ignoring the Iraqi people.

Iran faces U.N. sanctions for refusing to halt its nuclear program. It also has been accused of bankrolling militant groups in the Middle East like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in a bid to extend its influence.

Ahmadinejad was in Managua as part of a whirlwind tour of Latin America's newly inaugurated leftist leaders. He met with close ally and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez on Saturday, then was scheduled to attend the inauguration of Ecuador's new president, Rafael Correa, and meet Bolivian leader Evo Morales. All are outspoken critics of U.S. President George W. Bush.

But Ortega, who fought off a U.S.-backed insurgency during his first government in the 1980s, took a less confrontational position with Ahmadinejad, instead talking about how the Iranian leader will help the developing world.

"We are conspiring against hunger, poverty and misery," Ortega said.

Iran and Nicaragua said they would open embassies in each other's capitals, strengthening ties between two countries that have had little interaction yet share long and troubled histories with the United States.

The paths of Nicaragua and Iran crossed in the 1980s during the Iran-Contra affair, in which the U.S. secretly sold arms to Iran to free American hostages, then used some of the proceeds to back Contra rebels fighting to overthrow Ortega.

But that was long forgotten on Sunday, when the two countries signed a development agreement largely targeting Nicaragua's economic and infrastructure problems. It called for the construction of dams and homes, and factories building everything from buses to bicycles. They also agreed to establish programs to improve drinking water, ports and the fishing industry.