Chavez Backs Iran in Nuclear Dispute

President Hugo Chavez defended Iran's "legitimate right" to develop nuclear power for peaceful uses, warning the U.S. on Sunday not to attack Venezuela's ally in the Middle East.

Under Chavez, Venezuela has cultivated ties to Iran and other nations at odds with Washington, including North Korea and Syria.

"We demand that the North American empire respect the Iranian people and the peoples of the world," Chavez said Sunday on "Hello President," his TV and radio program. "The only country that has developed atomic bombs and dropped them on entire peoples is the North American empire. ... They don't have the morality to be giving anybody lessons."
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