Video & Transcript: Hugo Chavez Interview with CNN's Larry King!

On September 24, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was the guest on Larry King's CNN talkshow. In this interview, Chavez offered thoughts from the United States to Iran; from oil politics to the Gaza War; from his thoughts about assassination to his wishes when he was a child.

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LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, Venezuela's outspoken, headline making president Hugo Chavez. He called George W. Bush "The Devil" and now says it seems there are two Barack Obamas.

He counts Iran, Cuba, Syria and Libya as allies. He spends billions buying weapons from Russia and sells a whole a lot of oil to the United States. He's also the star of a new Oliver Stone documentary.

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez for the hour is next on LARRY KING LIVE.

Good evening.

From the Venezuelan Mission, about a block from the United Nations, it's our pleasure to welcome to LARRY KING LIVE, President Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela.

He addressed the United Nations a short time ago.

The president of the United States addressed the U.N. earlier.

And he said, Mr. President, he's calling for a new era in world relations.

What sort of relationship do you want now with the United States?

HUGO CHAVEZ, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator unless otherwise noted): Hi, Larry -- or Larry King?

The King.

KING: Any way you want.

CHAVEZ: Well, us and the whole world, we want relations based on respect -- relations of peoples where we are respected. Most governments in the United States in a hundred years have not respected the peoples of Latin America. They have sponsored coup d'etats, assassinations.

It's enough. We want to be brothers and sisters. We want respect and equality. Simon Bolivar, our father, said a balanced world -- a universe -- a balanced universe in order to have peace and development.

KING: Do you expect it to be better with President Obama?

Of course, you called him -- now, you said there are two Obamas. Well, what do you mean?

CHAVEZ: I explained this already. We have an Obama that talks about peace yesterday, to sponsor peace, to promote peace. And one of the pillars of his foreign policy I accept this calling and we join him in this calling for peace.

However, there is another Obama -- the one who approved the installation of seven military bases. That's another Obama -- the Obama sponsoring war; using food and the presence of military officers and using the U.S. weaponry against Latin America. We want to see the Obama of peace.

I shook hands with that Obama. That's the Obama we want. The world needs a true leader, an Obama that promotes peace and understanding in the world.

KING: But don't you add to it when you call President Bush a devil or you call -- as you called President Obama once -- an ignoramus?

Don't you think that insults, Mr. President, don't harbor peace?

CHAVEZ: Well, if you talk about insults and name calling -- well, if we withdrawal the insults on those name calling, then we can have peace?

Well, we need to do that, but all of us.

Now, how Bush called me?

The U.S. -- the -- the Bush government toppled me. They asked for my assassination. They disrespected us.

We reply in the firm manner, in the hard manner, but it's not the way you call a president or a human being. I said today it doesn't smell sulfur anymore in the United Nations. I want that we have new winds -- winds of hope.

Now who has been insulted?

It's us. Bush aggressed and used the world.

KING: How do you know -- know -- how do you know they tried to assassinate you?

How do you know that?

CHAVEZ: I saw my assassins. At dawn, I was a prisoner in Venezuela, being a president. They took me to the seaside.

I was debating with those who wanted murder me. They received the order to kill me. However, at this very moment, a group of soldiers refused. They did not kill me, but I saw those who wanted to kill me and the order came from the White House. There is no doubt in my mind. The same thing as they ordered to kill Salvador Allende and to kill Che Guevara and to kill Ojeda Rios. And the same thing to bombard Panama, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic.

That's our history and we want a new time. We want peace.

KING: Be that as it may, true or not, that's the past. Let's look to today. You are spending billions buying new weapons, large amounts from Russia, reports say tanks and rockets.

Why does your country need all these weapons?

What is the threat to Venezuela?

CHAVEZ: Well, that's the story they are telling around. All countries have a defense system. The United States have one.

How much do you spend in weapons daily -- atomic bombs, steel planes?

Who his the country that is sponsoring war around the world?

Now, Larry, for a long time, Venezuela has bought these F-16 planes manufactured in the United States. They do not sell us, however, the spare parts. So most of them cannot fly. Transportation planes -- you don't sell us the spare parts; also, surveillance planes to fight against drug trafficking. The U.S. government does not sell us the spare parts.

Now we have resorted to other options, to have at least the minimum required for our defense. But who can accuse us of arms race, the United States?

KING: But who do you -- the United States...

CHAVEZ: That's ironical.

KING: The United States had a 9/11.

Who do you fear?

Who do fear is going -- what country is going to harm you?

CHAVEZ: What did you say?

KING: Who -- what country...

(CROSSTALK)

KING: What country do you fear will harm you?

CHAVEZ: The empire. The empire. Seven military bases, gringo military bases in Colombia. That's a serious threat against Venezuela. Let's see the reality. That's the reality. The Colombian government, for instance, attacked Ecuadorian territory a year ago based on the principles of the preventive wall -- the same used by Israel to attack the Gaza Strip.

Venezuela has the largest oil reserve and Venezuela has to defend itself. That's what we are doing.

Now, I repeat, who can criticize us, the United States?

On what grounds -- that Venezuela is equipped with the minimum required to defend itself to ensure it -- assure the sovereignty of its country?

Can you criticize that?

KING: We'll be right back with President Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, at the mission in New York.

Don't go away.

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KING: You're watching LARRY KING LIVE.

We're back with President Chavez of Venezuela.

Secretary Clinton, the secretary of State, says that she is worried about your country, that you could trigger a regional arms race. She wants to make sure that the weapons that you have don't end up with insurgent groups and drug traffickers.

Is she right to be worried?

CHAVEZ: I think she's totally lost.

KING: Lost?

CHAVEZ: And you should be concerned. Yes, she's lost. She -- she has lost her way and you should be concerned you didn't have attacks on this country. Your State secretary is totally lost. She is totally wrong.

I think the United States and the secretary of State should be concerned about the poverty in this country -- people without health insurance. The United States should stop being the empire and be concerned about other countries. You've got to be more worried about your own people.

Now, let me tell you this, Larry, in Venezuela, our defense budget -- and pay attention and I'll tell you this. Our defense budget is one of the lowest of the whole hemisphere. You know, Colombia has a very high defense budget thanks to the support of the U.S., the U.S. president, the Pentagon. Colombia has 10 times more -- spends -- expenditures in military weapons than Venezuela. Venezuela is half that amount. Do you know how we spend our money?

In education, health care, schools, culture. That's the core element of our policy. Now, you want to present us -- Chavez -- as the arms race. We want peace, culture, education, health. That's the core -- the center of our attention. Well, the secretary of State is totally lost in her analysis.

KING: But shouldn't -- based on what you say, shouldn't Colombia worry a little about you?

CHAVEZ: No. We have given Colombia affection or an open hand, open arms. I consider myself Colombian and I want for them the same thing I want for us because Colombia was -- they get wide homeland built by Bolivar. I consider myself Colombian. We want peace in Colombia.

And I said to Obama in Trinidad & Tobago, when he approached me to say hello and he was very gracious. And I told him, "Obama, why shouldn't we do something for Colombia? Let's open a key committee -- commission."

And now Obama has stolen bases in Colombia to promote death and war. He is wrong. Mrs. Clinton is wrong. Obama should be consistent with what he suggested, which is to promote peace.

KING: Do you support rebels in Colombia?

CHAVEZ: No. Of course not. Never. I endorsed peace in Colombia. Larry, the first time and the only time I met with guerilla leaders was at the request of the Colombian government, Pastrana, 10 years ago. He wanted peace. And now Uribe asked me to receive some insurgents in order to foster peace.

I want peace, peace, peace in Colombia. And I ask for help to -- to this country to achieve peace in Colombia.

KING: We'll be right back with President Chavez.

Don't go away.

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KING: We're back with President Chavez of Venezuela.

You have a close relationship with Iran. And there have been huge protests in Iran over the past election.

Why do you support a government who's had so much bloodshed, whose presidential election is in question?

Why do you support Iran?

CHAVEZ: Well, we support each other and we have the right to do that -- we do that. We are sovereign nations because we have an excellent cooperation relation in the field of health. We manufacture medicine, technology, technology transfer for food production in Venezuela, we're installing milk processing plants to develop agriculture, to produce food. We have political cooperation.

Now, the internal situation in Iran, that's an internal situation. I do not meddle in those internal situations in affairs in Iran. And the same thing with Iran. The same thing with the U.S. You have relations with many countries.

Are we going to blame the U.S. for having relations with dictators and monarchs?

Israel, for instance, the United States -- you support Israel and Israel is a genocidal government. Iran has not invaded anyone. The Iranians have a revolution. The previous leader was the shah. He -- this is democracy in Iran with the Islamic style. But you have to be respectful.

KING: Mr. President, you said in Tehran on a recent trip that the Iranian government was going to help your government develop nuclear technology.

Why -- why do you need nuclear technology?

CHAVEZ: I've never said -- they have fooled you. I've never said that Iran is going to help us to have nuclear technology. We -- there is the opinion -- and that's a strategy -- to attack Venezuela and say that we are building an atomic bomb. That's the next accusation.

And I'm going to say this now. Please, come on. That's crazy. That's crazy.

Now, I tell you, right, you don't destroy your nuclear arms -- and those people who could criticize who have those weapons. Obama said that they want a world without nuclear arms. Let me tell you this, we have signed with Russia -- with Russia, with Medvedev, a mechanism to develop, in Venezuela, nuclear energy -- nuclear energy. That is not a bomb, but energy.

Who manufactures the bombs and -- the nuclear bombs?

The United States and then other countries.

Who launched the nuclear bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima?

We want -- Brazil does and Argentina, France and many other countries -- we want to develop the nuclear technology for medicine, to develop energy, because one day, we will run out of oil. You don't see it. Our grandchildren might see it. We need to invest in technology to generate alternatives of energy. Nuclear energy is an alternative.

KING: We'll be right back with President Chavez of Venezuela.

Don't go away.

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KING: Now there is something curious, Mr. President. You are friends with Iran and Cuba, Libya and Syria -- countries that are not friends with us.

Do you, just honestly, do you want to be friends with the United States?

CHAVEZ: Russia is not an enemy of the U.S. Libya is not an enemy. Iran, well, they have been aggressed by the United States and threatened by the United States. I want to be friends of everybody, Larry. I don't care about the internal political system of the United States. I want to be a friend of United States, of its baseball, its institutions, its rock and roll, its workers and its technology because we need it. I want to be friends of the Arab people, of the Persian people, of the Asian people. I was just talking to the president of Vietnam. We need to know those worlds in the world, what different worlds. We need to be respectful and we need to learn to live in this world despite differences.

KING: Why do you -- you denounce Israel, which is not in your part of the world. You -- you support the president of Iran. He denies that there was a Holocaust. Now, come on. You know there was a Holocaust.

CHAVEZ: Yes. But there also was another holocaust in South America. I do not deny the Jewish Holocaust and I condemn it. But in South America, when the Europeans arrived, there were close to 90 million Indians. Two hundred years later, we only had four million remaining. That was an holocaust. And the Europeans denied this holocaust. So we did have -- we might have different approaches. But you cannot demonize something because of their ideas.

How many did that -- believe that?

I do not believe this. I defend my ideas. But you cannot condemn someone because of his ideas or their approaches.

What happened in Gaza?

(AUDIO GAP)

Jimmy Carter.

They killed how many children in Jakarta?

What is that?

Genocide. Thousands of families destroyed with bombs and towns. That's crazy. That's a genocide. In Africa, there was a genocide. Millions died.

KING: You do not think Israel is a beleaguered country?

Small little Israel, surrounded by enemies, is not a beleaguered country? CHAVEZ: A small country with atomic bombs and very aggressive country who invaded the Golan Heights. And he had to give them back to Syria. They have massacred entire families. It is a war-mongering country. And I discuss the Israeli people and the Jewish people that live in Venezuela. They are my friends. I respect them. I've prayed with them, respecting their beliefs, as I respect the Islam -- Islamic people.

One thing is this the Israeli people, another thing those who kill people. They have no mercy.

Did you read the statement of an Israeli officer recently?

He regretted what they did against Gaza last year because they killed everybody -- children, elderly, women.

KING: Are we ever going to have peace?

Are we ever going to have peace?

CHAVEZ: Yes, we want peace. Of course we want peace.

KING: We'll be back with the President of Venezuela in a moment.

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KING: We're at the Venezuelan Mission next to the U.N. in New York City with President Chavez of Venezuela.

Your country, of course, very rich in oil. In fact, you claim to have the biggest oil reserves in the world. You're a larger of exporter world -- of oil, rather -- to this country, the United States.

Doesn't your economy need America?

CHAVEZ: We all need America. America needs us. And we need America. That's for sure. Yes, we are large oil exporters.

KING: Isn't it in your best interests to treat -- to have a peace with America, to be in concert with America?

I mean you're interdependent.

CHAVEZ: Yes, of course. No doubt. In my first government, I had good relations with the Clintons. I came to the White House. We met here in New York several times. We spoke on the phone. And I said to Obama and I said to Mrs. Clinton in Trinidad, we want -- I want to be as close with you as I was with Mr. Clinton. The thing is that Bush destroyed everything with the coup d'etat, with the sabotage. He ordered my assassination. They destabilized Venezuela, following Bush's orders. We want with Obama to come back to the Clintonian times. Despite all the problems with Bush, we always sent you 1.5 million barrels of oil. And we have here in United States Citgo that processes two million barrels a day. And they provide 10,000 gas stations in the United States. And they have the program to help the poor and the needy. Providing heating oil to the poor and need here because poverty is very important in United States.

KING: Will you ever cut off oil to the United States?

CHAVEZ: I didn't do this the time of Bush. I would never do this now. But even during the coup, that's my commitment. And we send oil to our oil company here. That's business. And we are sending oil over to China, to Europe, to the Caribbean, to South America. Venezuela, Larry, our reserve, could last 150 years.

Once we run out of oil on this earth, there will be four or five countries with available oil: Russia, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The world will depend on us and we want to entertain the best relations investing in resources to be able to sustain and to meet the large energy needs of the world.

The United States do not have the reserves required. We want to have good relations with the US.

KING: With all your oil, why aren't you doing better economically? Why is there poverty in your country and unemployment? With all the oil you have, you should be dominant.

CHAVEZ: Well, let me tell you this. Venezuela, when I became president, poverty in Venezuela was almost 60 percent. Today, it's below 30. We met the millennium goal. Extreme poverty was 24 percent, now it's seven percent, and it keeps on going down. Unemployment was close to 20 percent. Now it's close to six percent, better than the US. Here, unemployment has increased.

The world crisis has not affected us. We have improved employment. The -- and child mortality has improved. And I know that you are a generous person. You have a foundation to help children suffering from heart diseases. I invite you to visit our heart hospital, built by the revolution in Caracas, the biggest of the hemisphere. We are operating 1,500 children every year, free of charge.

We have a health care system that's taking care of 15 million inhabitants and there's free distribution of food, donated to the poor people. And it serves 40 percent of the population. Venezuela has changed in a dramatic fashion. We have distributed the income.

KING: More with Hugo Chavez right after this.

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KING: We're back with President Chavez. We're in New York City.

In February, you won a referendum that lifts term limit. Some fear that you are power-hungry and you want to be president for life. Is that true?

CHAVEZ: No. I want to serve my country as long as my people want. We had a referendum and this is a constitution that's being enforced for 10 years. We have created a participatory democracy, moving away from the liberal democracy -- the democracy of the rich and the elite against the poor. The people decided to amend the constitution, and opening the possibility not only for the president, but also to the mayors, to governors, to the deputies. They can be elected without time limits.

KING: You are a full democracy?

CHAVEZ: Full democracy, no. A democracy in development, in progress. We want to have more democracy and hopefully one day we achieve full democracy.

KING: President Carter -- who you recently mentioned favorably -- said recently that you were becoming too authoritarian. He made the remarks in the Colombian newspaper "El Tiempo". He said that, "Chavez is consolidating all political power in his office at the expense of an independent judiciary." True?

CHAVEZ: Yes, I read that and I regret for him, because I think he's totally confounded and lost. It's a long time since he visited us. I respect him enormously, but I think he is wrong. He's a victim of so much falsehood in the world. He knew Venezuela before Chavez, when there was extraordinary power concentration.

We are distributing power. We need to transfer power to the people. We are creating the people's power, and I wish he visits us and see the communities -- the communities, the -- he's wrong. No one is perfect, of course.

KING: You're inviting him to --

CHAVEZ: I invite him because he's a serious person and I'm concerned that he's totally wrong now.

KING: How about silencing your critics, Mr. President? Fears you're going to shut down Global Vision, the remaining independent television station in Venezuela. In fact, some say that is a certainty, you're going to close down that television. Are you?

CHAVEZ: It's not the last independent network in Venezuela. We have hundreds of independent networks in Venezuela. Independents are those who do not belong to the state. I mean, they are not independent. They depend on the owners, of course. They are not independent. There is no freedom of speech.

Now, I said to journalists a while ago, never in Venezuela we had so much freedom of speech as now. You know Chomsky, right? He went to visit us recently. Some Venezuelan media supported openly the coup d'etat. They have called for my assassination, such as Pat Robinson said had to be murdered. They repeat the same thing.

Chomsky said that in the United States, some networks like your network, for instance, where you work, they call for a coup d'etat and to murder the president.

KING: CNN called for this? Are you saying my network did that?

CHAVEZ: No, no, no. In case you say such a thing, you do such a thing, Chomsky said what would happen in the United States if something like that happened. Not only they will be closed down, but they will be put in the electric chair.

KING: Didn't you close 32 radio stations?

CHAVEZ: Not at all. That's a lie. Again, that's a lie.

KING: Are you --

CHAVEZ: Listen. Listen, there is a law. You accept that there is a law, right? If I have a car, I drive my car in New York and I go against the -- the rules, the traffic rules, I'm going to be detained. If I want to drive in a -- in a -- in a street in New York 120 miles, I will commit a crime. And there is a law in Venezuela, those who break the law, they lose their right to use the -- these networks, because they break the law. But in our country, we have hundreds of radio stations.

KING: Yes or no, my original question -- are you going to close Global Vision?

CHAVEZ: I do not know. It depends on them. If they keep on sponsoring coup d'etats, if they keep on calling for my assassination, if they keep on breaching the law even as well, it is not Chavez that's going to close them. I want to apply the law. We need to respect the law. It is the law. It's out of logic, and it's pure logic.

KING: Back with more right after this.

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KING: We're back with Hugo Chavez. We're at the Mission in New York of Venezuela. He visited here and spoke to the U.N. earlier today.

Your friendship with Fidel Castro, very close?

CHAVEZ: Profound, very, extremely close. He's like a father to me, like a father, a political father. I admire him enormously. He is one of the greatest men of the 20th and the 21st century of this hemisphere and of the world.

KING: And he is a communist.

CHAVEZ: And what's wrong about that?

KING: You'd like -- you're not a communist. You don't support.

CHAVEZ: I am a socialist. Now, I prefer him as a communist than to the capitalist. I have friends who are capitalists. I'm not going to condemn them because they are capitalists.

Fidel, beyond his political ideas, he's a visionary. Fidel, he's the father of the Latin America revolution, and his ideas today are more alive than ever. I do not know if you have the time to read Fidel's reflections. It is a book now, and he is writing now that he has retired -- profound reflections on philosophy, the need to care about the environment of the planet.

And through socialism it's -- Fidel's path is the way to save the planet. It's not through capitalism that was born here in the United States.

You should reflect upon this. It is capitalism that was to blame for the great evils in this world, that was to blame for the crisis of this country and the rest of the planet. This socialism is going to save this planet. Rosa Luxemburg said socialism or barbarism.

KING: But Cuba has been oppressive. It has many political prisoners. You know that.

CHAVEZ: Cuba has a political system. It is a revolution. There are prisoners like you find them elsewhere. In Cuba there are election. People deny the truth about Cuba. In Cuba you have a people --

KING: All right. I got to get a break.

CHAVEZ: OK. OK.

KING: We'll be right back.

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KING: Back with President Chavez. What happens to Cuba after Fidel? I know he's not -- I know Raul now is charge, but basically what happens when Fidel goes?

CHAVEZ: Well, I think Cuba has a path already set. I know Cuba pretty well. Fidel is no longer in power. Its Raul, and Cuba keeps on building its socialism. Let's leave them alone.

Obama should -- as we requested him, all of us -- stop the embargo against Cuba. And Lula said this yesterday, and I said this today. It is absurd to block a country that becomes part of the 16th century. Obama should stop the embargo against Cuba. Let's leave them alone.

There are five Cubans in prison here for fighting against terror. Here in the U.S. there is a Cuban born prisoner who was the father of terrorism, and he is here protected. I've been asking for the -- requesting for him to go back to Venezuela.

And Posada Carriles, he has planted a bomb in a plane, and they killed a group of Cuban spokespersons, so I need to use this opportunity to ask Obama, President Obama, extradite the terrorist, Posada Carriles, to Venezuela. We are waiting for him. And comply with international law.

KING: Do you want to export your socialism? Do you want to spread to other countries, the Chavez socialism?

CHAVEZ: No. There is no Chavez socialism. That is ridiculous. Each country has its own sovereignty. Country has its own people, its own ideas, its own leaders. Each country should fill its own destiny. That's essential. That's part of the sovereignty of the people.

Venezuela has decided in democracy and in peace to go on the path of socialism. That's our right. We have the best of relations with all the -- the countries of the hemisphere, except for Colombia and the U.S., and that's regrettable.

But I am a good friend of -- friend of countries that speak several languages. We have good relations with all those countries, and we respect each other. There's no plan to export. We are exporting oil. That's yes. And we want to export chemical products and all that, but not the revolution.

KING: In our limited time left, some personal questions. What do you like about the United States?

CHAVEZ: Baseball. The people. Yesterday, I walked a little bit in New York. And the Secret Service people have been very gracious, very efficient, and very attentionate (ph), very kind. We walked with him -- with them, and we saw a group of people, women, elderly people greeting us. I love America the way I like Russia, Venezuela, Argentina. This is part of the world.

I like music. Yesterday, I met a lady who sings rock and roll, and we kissed. And I love the movies. Yesterday we went to see Oliver Stone and a group of actors -- Danny Glover. I love the movies. I was telling a person there that I love the movies of this guy Charles Bronson. I love this actor. Excellent actor. He died when he was very young, still young.

These are the most adventures. And baseball, the Yankee Stadium, Walt Whitman. I love those.

KING: All right. You've convinced me. We'll be back with our remaining moments with Hugo Chavez right after this.

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KING: Some other notes before you leave us.

Would you invite our president to Venezuela?

CHAVEZ: Of course. Of course. I invite him any time. When we met, I told him, "Obama, I gave this hand to Bush eight years ago and I told him the same thing I'm telling you, I want to be your friend."

I wish him to -- to be with us. I met a number of trade union leaders and they asked me to buy a cracker factory. And we want to have the best of relations -- economic, social -- with these great countries, but not with an empire.

So I invite Obama, no problem. KING: Truth -- would you rather here have been a Major League baseball player than president of Venezuela?

CHAVEZ: It was my dream. It was my dream. I would have preferred, personally, to do that. However, since you do not decide what you're going to do. I went to the army because I wanted to be a baseball player. I became a soldier.

Then Venezuela just shattered and the -- the wind that found me president. But I am still that young baseball player who wanted to play in the Yankee Stadium.

KING: Would you rather have been a singer?

CHAVEZ: I love to sing. Well, I'm not a very good singer. Of course, a poet. I love poetry, singing, culture.

KING: Are you, then, misunderstood?

The image of you in America, are we wrong?

CHAVEZ: I'm just a man with many defects. I love. I sing. I dream. I was born in the countryside. I was raised in the countryside. (INAUDIBLE) manufactured by my grandmother. I loved to live -- to live. My children -- my two daughters are with me. And I want a better world for my grandchildren, for your grandchildren.

Now, they demonize me. But that's the start of these world campaigns to try to defend what you cannot defend, a system that is destroying the world. What we want -- what -- this is what I wanted. I'm a Christian. I want the world of justice and equality. This is the only way to achieve peace.

I was an altar boy. My mother wanted me to be a priest. I am very Christian and Catholic.

KING: Do you have faith?

CHAVEZ: Oh, a lot of faith, yes. I'm very faithful. I believe in God, in Jesus Christ. I love Jesus Christ. I am a Christian. And I feel like the cross of Jesus Christ, a world of injustice, inequities. I cry when I see injustice and justice -- people, children die of hunger. And you -- you see that -- you see that. I know you do. You feel the pain of others.

I'm faithful that there will be a better world. That's why I said today, it doesn't smell sulfur anyone. I want to smell a different world -- hope, faith, peace. We need to unite. The United States should unite with the South American countries to produce food, medicine, to fight against poverty, to take people out of poverty. That's our goal.

KING: We're, sadly, out of time.

I thank you.

CHAVEZ (Speaking English): Larry -- Larry King. Larry the king.

Larry the king.

Larry the king.

KING: The king.

Iraqi "Shoe-Thrower" al-Zaidi: "I was Tortured and Feared for My Life"

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Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist jailed for throwing his shoes at then President George W. Bush in December 2008, was released on Tuesday. Missing a front tooth, he said that he was tortured and that he feared for his life,  believing that American intelligence agents will pursue him.

Al-Zaidi claimed that after his arrest he was beaten with iron bars, whipped with cords, splashed with water in the December weather, and shocked with electricity in the backyard of a building in the Green Zone. He vowed to reveal the names of senior officials in the Iraqi government and army whom he said had been involved in his mistreatment. He then added:

These fearful services, the US intelligence services and its affiliated services, will spare no efforts to track me as an insurgent revolutionary ... in a bid to kill me... And here I want to warn all my relatives and people close to me that these services will use all means to trap and try to kill and liquidate me either physically, socially, or professionally.

It is reported that Zaidi will travel to Greece to address health concerns. In addition to a standing invitation from Muammar Gaddafi to come to Libya, the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez offered al-Zaidi citizenship and $100,000.

EA Exclusive: Iran and Venezuela are Going to Kill Us All

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UPDATE 0635 GMT: Ohmygod, this must be totally true because the editorial page of The Washington Post just said so . How do they know? Well, because of thorough investigative reporting which ventured as far as down the street: "The opening of Venezuela's banks to the Iranians guarantees the continued development of nuclear technology and long-range missiles," Mr. Morgenthau said in a briefing this week in Washington at the Brookings Institution. "The mysterious manufacturing plants, controlled by Iran deep in the interior of Venezuela, give even greater concern."

So says Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau in The Wall Street Journal:

With the groundwork laid years ago, we are entering a period where the fruits of the Iran-Venezuela bond will begin to ripen.

That means two of the world's most dangerous regimes, the self-described "axis of unity," will be acting together in our backyard on the development of nuclear and missile technology. And it seems that terrorist groups have found the perfect operating ground for training and planning, and financing their activities through narco-trafficking.

The Iranian nuclear and long-range missile threats, and creeping Iranian influence in the Western Hemisphere, cannot be overlooked.

Now this statement has angered some old Lefties, like a Mr Robert Dreyfuss of the scandal rag The Nation, who is pictured at right because he looks a bit like a Communist:

This is both creepy and conspiratorial, with almost no facts, and full of rhetoric and dark insinuations.

Picky, picky Mr Dreyfuss. Because we know that it is a trait of devious Marxist-Islamofascist-terrorist-New Axis of Evil bad people to put words like "evidence" and "proof" as obstacles before assertions which are undoubtedly true because we say so.

We have no doubt, therefore, that the jurisdiction of the District Attorney now encompasses not only part of New York City but also Iranian nuclear facilities and that he has obtained the authority to conduct extensive investigations in Caracas. We are not distracted by the inconvenience that the District Attorney has never presented a single document in court to establish an Iranian-Venezuelan connection, because this is, as Morgenthau say, "information developed by my office" and no doubt kept in a super-secret sugar jar underneath the office coffeepot.

And we dismiss any flimsy Leftie challenges that the District Attorney seems to be investigating a Persian Gulf country with no nuclear bomb, linked to a Latin American country with no nuclear bomb, rather than a Middle East country with at least 150 nuclear bombs receiving billions in military aid from a North American country with loads and loads of nuclear bombs/planes/ships/submarines/missiles.

Because Evil is as Good says. Deal with that, you lover of Mr Chavez Ahmadinejad Marx Stalin Hitler Michael Moore.

The Latest from Iran (7 September): Countdown to 18 September Begins

NEW Iran Urgent: Mousavi HQ Raided by Security Forces
Iran: Green Wave Resurgent?
Iran’s Victims: The 72 People Killed in Post-Election Conflict
Iran: Resistance and Music – New Shajarian Song “Language of Fire”
The Latest from Iran (6 September): The Reformists Speak

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2030 GMT: No Criticism Here. Press TV's website writes out the admonition of the Supreme Leader to President Ahmadinejad and the Cabinet to take heed of "benevolent criticism" (see 1830 GMT). Instead the report emphasizes Ayatollah Khamenei's declaration about the legitimacy established by the election, “The nation and the Islamic Revolution have proven their republican nature. If officials, elites and political experts understand this fact, many of the country's problems will be resolved."

1930 GMT: Is the Regime Targeting Leaders' Children? That's the question asked by one of our readers, who noticed the arrest of Atefeh Emam, the 18-year old daughter of Mir Hossein Mousavi's Chief of Staff, Javad Emam, who is still detained himself. She was reportedly released earlier today, after 24 hours of continuous interrogation, near a Tehran cemetery.

Earlier in the crisis, the regime arrested several members of the family of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, and pressure has been placed this week on the son of Mehdi Karroubi.

1830 GMT: Khamenei Manoeuvres. In a line which is not that far from the "conservative" Society of Militant Clergy criticism of the President, the Supreme Leader has advised Ahmadinejad and his Cabinet: "There is internal criticism backed by foreign media with the aim of sabotage but there is also benevolent criticism which may not come from supporters of the government but they contain good comments."

1710 GMT: Clerics Warn Ahmadinejad. The reformist Association of Teachers and Researchers of Qom have issued a statement warning that the regime cannot be maintained with military force, arrests, and brutality.

More intriguing, however, may be a finger-wagging at the President from the "conservative" Society of Militant Clergy, their first intervention in the post-election crisis:

We ask the president and the government to seriously try to solve people’s problems and the country’s economic and social issues, and avoid talking about unnecessary and provocative issues. The comments made and the disrespect committed in the debates, speeches and rallies before and after the election caused divergence.

The Society criticised the opposition for pursuing demands "outside law", but it also called for "consoling" those harmed in the unrest.

Possibly Relevant Fact: One of the members of the Society is former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.

1645 GMT: A Norooz News article, featured on Mir Hossein Mousavi's Facebook page, says that:

"Security Forces attacked the Staff office of Mir Hossein Mousavi which was resposible for following the issues of the detainees, without any legal premisson. All documentations were confiscated and taken out to... an unknown destination. As Staff members asked for receipt, security forces answered that no documents will be given back, thus there will be no receipt !!"

(Thanks to Mike Dunn for covering, as I was stuck in traffic when this came through. We have posted as a separate entry, cleaning up some of the text and adding a brief analysis.)

1430 GMT: We've been watching since reports came in yesterday of a meeting in Qom between Grand Ayatollahs Golpaygani and Makarem-Shirazi. Now the website of the Green movement, Mowj-e-Sabz, is reporting that there were several Grand Ayatollahs and senior clerics, including Bayat-Zanjani, Montazeri, and Mousavi-Ardebili, in the discussion of "practical steps against the coup government", after receving letters from political and social activists.

1340 GMT: Fars News reports that Press TV will soon air a "roundtable" of detainees Saeed Hajjarian, Mohammad Atrianfar, and Saeed Shariati on the causes of their "change of attitude and intellectual development".

1130 GMT: We're here but it is a very slow day, with little breaking on the political front.

There is one story that catches the eye. According to Tehran Bureau, via a source, the revelations of the abuses of detainees in Kahrizak Prison cames from a photographer for the Supreme Leader.

The well-known documentary maker and photojournalist, who recorded the eight-year Iraq-Iran war and became a ‘Sacred Defense’ photographer, was arrested during the post-election unrest and taken to Kahrizak where he was abused and tortured. After his release, he informed Ayatollah Khamenei about jail rapes and prisoner abuse. When the Supreme Leader expressed disbelief, the man revealed that he was one of the victims: "What they did was inhumane and in violation of all human rights… When they did those things to me, in my eyes it was you who was doing them."

Soon after this, Khamenei ordered the closure of the notorious detention center.

(The photojournalist was one of the cameramen who made Mir Hossein Mousavi’s campaign films, although it is unclear if they played any part in his arrest. He has also worked on a documentary about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.)

0850 GMT: If the BBC was paying attention, rather than trotting along with the notion of Iran's Nuclear Programme Above All Else (see 0820 GMT), it might have noticed these comments from President Ahmadinejad in his press conference, directed at the opposition movement:

The election and post-election events was victory of Iranian nation's morality against immoralities. The other victory of Iranian nation was success in removing contamination from Revolution.

0840 GMT: Rafsanjani Speaks. A small amendment to the end of today's analysis, "The large presence of Hashemi Rafsanjani has disappeared." The former President said, at a ceremony to commemorate Ayatollah Ali Qoddousi, Iran's prosecutor general who was killed by Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) in 1981:

It is a vital need of the Islamic Republic and establishment to find a way to strengthen national unity and establish peace in the country. In the recent events, the sides should act in a way which will guarantee national unity.

Small amendment, indeed, as the statement just repeats Rafsanjani's cautious, hold-the-line comments that we evaluated in mid-August.

0820 GMT: MediaWatch. The New York Times does another good job this morning, picking up on the Khatami statement and Mousavi letter (though missing Karroubi's moves) that we've highlighted all weekend and in today's analysis. The Washington Post also mention Khatami and Mousavi but hide the impact by tucking them away under a headline on an older story, "Iran Canceling Major Ramadan Events in Wake of Election Protests".

CNN are nowhere to be found, preferring to go with "Chavez Pledges Closer Ties with Iran". Al Jazeera also gets distracted by the Venezuela dimension. Even worse at the BBC, which falls for the Iranian President's "Look Over There!" trick, "Tehran 'ready for global talks'".

0800 GMT: We heard about this story all day yesterday and are keeping a close eye on it (any information would be welcomed):

A group of Revolutionary Guards have resigned from the force according to Hosein Hashemian, an Iranian lawmaker. Mr. Hashemian told Parleman News Website that the unacceptable interference of the Revolutionary Guards in political matters has caused a rift in the force.

The story of resignations, including those of unit commanders, has been about since the start of the crisis, and more than 30 Islamic Revolution Guard Corps members have been arrested.

However, at this point without further confirmation, I am treating this as a bit of "psychological warfare" from the opposition to unsettle the Government. In particular, it is part of the fightback against the recent statements of the Revolutionary Guard's chief commander, General Mohammad Ali Jafari (see our separate analysis today): Hashemian called for Jafari to be detained for his claim that former President Khatami and other reformists were trying to "unseat" the regime.

0655 GMT: We've spent the morning on two special pieces. First and foremost, Josh Shahryar of Anonymous Iran's "The Green Brief" has spent hours translating into English, from the list provided by the Iranian website Norooz,  the names and descriptions of 72 people killed in post-election violence. Given that regime figures like high-ranking member of Parliament Alaeddin Boroujerdi have been trying to deny there is any evidence for the deaths, we think this is a vital document of record.

The second piece is an analysis, after a weekend of opposition statements, of the current political situation and the question of whether the Green Wave is moving towards a high-profile display of resistance on Qods Day, 18 September.

The Latest from Iran (6 September): The Reformists Speak

Iran Analysis: How Important is the Mousavi Statement?
Text: Mousavi Statement to “Green Path of Hope” (5 September)
Middle East/Iran Inside Line: Israel Presses Ahead with Settlements, Tehran Draws Line on Nuke Talks
The Latest from Iran (5 September): A Quiet Phase

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2000 GMT: Psychological Warfare. Unsurprisingly, the Fars News story that Mehdi Karroubi's son Ali is the subject of an arrest warrant, due to a financial dispute with the mobile phone company Irancell, appears to be a bit of fiction to shake up the reformist movement.

The specific claim is that Ali Karroubi is connected with Persian Telecom, which failed to carry out advertising obligations for Irancell. However, Irancell has told Saham News, connected with Karroubi party's Etemade Melli:

Mr. Ali Karroubi does not hold any shares in Persian Telecom....The two companies have a business association in the form of purchasing Irancell products and selling them and therefore no advertisement is done on behalf of Irancell by Persian Telecom. (Translation from Tehran Bureau)

1925 GMT: The Reformist Fightback. A series of reformist members of Parliament and clerics have been striking back at the comments of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps commander, General Ali Mohammad Jafari (see 1730 GMT), all day. The latest is Hojatoleslam Alikhani, a cleric and MP, who has emphasised that the military should not enter political issues.

1920 GMT: The Battle for the Universities (Cont.). Iranian newspapers and the Islamic Republic News Agency report, “The Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies [has been] tasked by the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council to revise the human sciences curriculum."

The head of the Institute declared, “In our country a large part of the syllabus… is not in line with our Iranian-Islamic culture. This calls for a revision." The syllabus will be revised
“based on the supreme leader’s recommendations.” (Agence France Press has an English summary.)

1730 GMT: Pursuing the Revolutionary Guard. Following up our last update yesterday, The Assembly of Combatant Clerics had responded to the claims of Revolutionary Guard Commander General Mohammad Ali Jafari, alleging that former President Khatami and other prominent reformists have tried to "unseat" the Supreme Leader and Government, by filing a formal complaint against Jafari and Keyhan newspaper for publishing lies and insulting several members of the Assembly.

1725 GMT: Responding to claims by Deputy Head of Judiciary, Ebrahim Raeesi, that he had not presented any evidence of detainee abuse in his meeting with the three-member panel investigating the claims, Mehdi Karroubi has described three documents that he presented.

1715 GMT: Hey, Look Over There! According to Press TV, the Supreme Leader gave visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez a quick international lesson on Sunday: "The US had far greater failures in the Islamic Republic of Iran than in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine. A power has been formed in this region which was once regarded by the US as its courtyard."

Surprisingly, the article offered no reference by Ayatollah Khamenei made to Iran's internal situation.

1440 GMT: Regime Goes After Karroubi. Fars News reports that an arrest warrant has been issued for Mehdi Karroubi's son, Ali. The cause of the action is a financial dispute involving one of Iran's largest mobile phone companies, Irancell, for whom Karroubi's company was supposed to sell phone cards. The amount involved is almost $2.5 million.

Nice touch, by the way, for Fars to use this as the illustration for the story:


1305 GMT: Josh Shahryar's "Green Brief" summarising the events of Saturday is now out.

1255 GMT: As the regime pushes its campaign for a "proper" academic sector (see 0740 GMT), former President Khatami held his own discussion with the Islamic Association of University Teachers. He pointedly challenged both the Supreme Leader's call on academics to be the commanders in a war against "Western" soft power and last Friday's prayer address in Tehran for a "non-Western" approach to humanities. Khatami expressed his opposition to those who in the name of fighting western liberalism, were forcing people to follow their path by employing fascism and totalitarianism ideologie and warned the authorities to start rebuilding public trust before all the opportunities are wasted."

1015 GMT: Business as Usual. Deputy head of judiciary Ebrahim Raeesi, who seems to be the regime's "hold-the-line" guy on detentions and prosecutions, declared Saturday that the replacement of Saeed Mortazavi as Tehran prosecutor by Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi will make no difference to the current approach: “The trials will continue and we will do our best so that the rule of law is upheld and justice prevails."

1010 GMT: Methinks He Doth Protest Too Much. Presidential spokesman Aliakbar Javenfekr is a bit upset at the claim, highlighted by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Reza Bohanar (see Friday's updates), that up to six of the Ministerial nominees only got approval after the Supreme Leader's intervention of a letter to Parliament: "This was not an order at all but a consultative and friendly view which compelled the lawmakers to work more tolerantly with the government." Bahonar was "insulting the lawmakers who through their independent, conscious, and intelligent vote helped establish a powerful, efficient government".

0850 GMT: The three-member judiciary panel investigating allegations of detainee abuse has said that Mehdi Karroubi has formally submitted the names of four detainees who will appear before the panel if invited.

0810 GMT: We've split off our opening update on the reformist fightback as a separate entry, "How Important is the Mousavi Statement?"

0800 GMT: No, No, It Ain't So. The head of Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, is insisting that the claims of 72 deaths in post-election violence are "questionable, given the fact that no detail on the identity of the victims has been present".

We linked Friday to the Farsi-language site Norooz, which has collected the names and descriptions of the dead, but we're hoping to help Mr Boroujerdi later today with an English translation of the list.

0740 GMT: In recent days, we've been updating on the regime's statements linking academia and the "proper" post-election path in Iran, including the Supreme Leader's address to heads of universities and research centres as "commanders" of the fight against foreign "soft power" and the statement in last Friday's prayers in Tehran warning against "Western-style" instruction in humanities.

Today The New York Times has an excellent article by Robert Worth today, "Iran’s Universities Punish Students Who Disputed Vote". Drawing from Iranian website, it not only notes the arrests and summoning for questioning of politically active students but also writes that "a presidential panel has begun an investigation of the humanities curriculums at universities".

The lengthiest passage, however, summarises the academic and political fight around Islamic Azad University:

Significantly, several clerics and high-ranking officials have taken aim at Islamic Azad University, which is based in Tehran and has branches around the country. The university is largely run by the family of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful moderate and leading opponent of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“This university must once again be purified,” Ayatollah Muhammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, the president’s spiritual adviser, said during a meeting with new cabinet members, the Rouydad Web site reported. “This purification must occur at the management level and other levels. You see just how many who do not believe in religion, Islam and God have attended and graduated from this university.”

Another cleric, Muhammad-Reza Babai, called for the new minister of higher education to review Azad’s management charter, during a Friday Prayer sermon in the central city of Kerman. The new minister, Kamran Daneshjoo, has also accused Azad of failing to meet standards.