Ahmadinejad goes west as sanctions hit home Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has met Cuba's President Raul Castro as the Iranian leader continued his drive to rally support amid growing tensions over his country's nuclear programme. The visit was overshadowed by the killing of a nuclear scientist in a car bomb attack that Iran has blamed on Israel and the US. The trip was an occasion to strengthen already strong economic and political ties. Cuba, like the other countries on Ahmadinejad's Latin American tour - Venezuela, Nicaragua and Ecuador - have endorsed Tehran's right to develop nuclear power. As new international sanctions begin to bite, relations with these allies are becoming increasingly important. Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was the fourth scientist to be killed in a car bombing in the past two years. The US has denied any involvement. Iran has again called on the UN Security Council to condemn the killing; it did not heed similar calls on the three previous occasions.