Managua (Nicaragua): Iran will build a hydroelectric dam in northern Nicaragua despite US reservations, the energy minister has said.

A state-owned Iranian company will build the USD 230 million Bodoke project on the Tuma River in the Jinotega province with financing by Iran s export bank, Energy Minister Emilio Rappaccioli told Nicaragua s Channel 2 yesterday.

"The construction will take place once both sides reach an agreement on a series of factors that have to studied further," Rappaccioli said.

The dam is one of numerous projects Iran agreed to sponsor in Nicaragua under accords President Daniel Ortega reached with Iranian Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian during Chitchian s visit last August.

The visit came just a week after US Ambassador Paul Trivelli warned the Central American nation about its increasingly close ties with Iran. But Trivelli also said that the relationship would not endanger the United States "good relations" with Nicaragua.

Washington has accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons and fueling violence in Iraq through its alleged support of insurgents. Tehran has denied the allegations.

On Wednesday, the White House issued an executive order that a national emergency regarding Iran would be formally extended for another year "because the actions and policies of the government of Iran continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States."

Under the Iran-Nicaragua pact, Iran will fund a farm equipment assembly plant, 4,000 tractors, four hydroelectric plants, five milk-processing plants, a health clinic, 10,000 houses and two piers in the western port of Corinto. In exchange Nicaragua will export coffee, meat and bananas to Iran.

Source : PTI