The presidents of Iran and Venezuela launched construction of a joint petrochemical plant on Monday, strengthening an “axis of unity” between two oil-rich nations staunchly opposed to the United States.

Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who both often rail against Washington, also signed a series of other deals to expand economic cooperation, ranging from setting up a dairy factory in Venezuela to forming an oil company.

“The two countries will united defeat the imperialism of North America,” a beaming Chavez told a news conference during an official visit to the Islamic Republic, which the United States has labeled part of an “axis of evil”.

“When I come to Iran Washington gets upset,” he said.

The two presidents—whose countries are members of the OPEC oil producing cartel—earlier attended the ceremony to start building a methanol facility with an annual capacity of 1.65 million tons on the Islamic Republic’s Gulf coast.

“Iran and Venezuela—the axis of unity,” read one of many official posters at the site near the port town of Assalouyeh, showing the two leaders hugging each other and shaking hands.

Ahmadinejad—who came to power two years ago pledging to revive the values of the 1979 Islamic revolution—hailed the event as a step towards boosting “brotherly” ties of the two “revolutionary” nations. http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSDAH23660020070702?feedType=RSS&rpc=22&sp=true