HAVANA — Iranian President Mohammad Khatami met Saturday with Cuban leader Fidel Castro during an official visit to the island following the OPEC summit in nearby Venezuela.
The subjects of the talks were not disclosed. Cuba's state media earlier indicated that the leaders would talk about a variety of trade issues, and discuss establishment of a direct maritime link between their countries. The two countries conduct around $100 million in trade a year, mostly in sugar and agriculture
Oil, a leading economic and domestic issue for communist Cuba, might also have been discussed. Cuba was dependent on its socialist allies for most of its oil before the Soviet Union broke up a decade ago.
In recent years, Cuba has increased its production of oil and gas for domestic consumption but remains dependent on fuel imports.
Just before the talks, the two men greeted one another before local and international media: Castro in his typical olive military drabs; Khatami, in the flowing robe and black turban that signifies his descent from Islam's 7th century prophet Muhammad.
Castro invited Khatami to visit Cuba when they first met at the summit of Non-Aligned Countries in South Africa in 1998.
Khatami was a central figure at the summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that wrapped up Thursday in Caracas. After the OPEC summit ended, Khatami and Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan discussed upgrading diplomatic relations between their countries that have been frayed since their 1980-88 war.