Tehran: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a message to Argentinean football legend Diego Maradona thanking him for his support to the Islamic country, Fars news agency reported on Thursday.
Maradona voiced his sympathies and support for the Iranian nation in December last year and declared his desire to meet the Iranian president. He also presented Ahmadinejad through the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires with an autographed number 10 jersey of the Argentinean national team.
While thanking him for the jersey and describing Maradona as a "renowned global personality", Ahmadinejad praised the struggle in Latin America against the "arrogant powers", a reference to political arch-foe US, and promised Iran's support for the anti-US states there.
Maradona is one of the most popular footballers in Iran and his sympathies for the Islamic state had found a wide coverage in Iranian media last year.
