Venezuela is to advocate for Iran in a dispute with Western countries on the nuclear issue, Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramírez declared Monday in Vienna.

"We will express Venezuela's support to Iran in the dispute on the nuclear issue," Ramírez told reporters before meeting with his Iranian counterpart Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh, on the eve of the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to be held on Tuesday in Vienna, AFP reported.

"All countries are sovereign, and this is what we will state clearly."