Iran to assemble 16,000 cars in Venezuela

The Iranian minister of industries and mines says Iran plans to produce 16,000 vehicles at its Venezuelan car plant in the coming year.

Ali-Akbar Mehrabian made the remarks after a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicholas Maduro, and Science Minister Jesse Chacon, in Tehran.

The two allies opened a joint car plant in central Venezuela in 2006.

The Iran Khodro Company already exports the country's first all domestic vehicle, Samand, to several countries such as Venezuela, Turkey, Belarus, Russia, Syria and Tajikistan.

The Venezuelan delegation arrived in Tehran on Monday to work on the details in preparation for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's upcoming visit to Venezuela.

Mehrabian also said that his talks with the Venezuelan officials focused on cooperation in the fields of food industry, gas and oil sectors, agriculture, science and technology, as well as generating electricity.