Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected President of Iran on August 3, 2005. Since then, Ahmadinejad and Chávez visited each other multiple times, signing more than 270 bilateral deals to support multiple campaigns for social and infrastructural national development. Both presidents of Venezuela and Iran, President Hugo Chávez and President Ahmadinejad, respectively, have described themselves on the world stage as opposed to "US imperialism". Citing this commonality of opinion, they regard each other as allies, and they have embarked on a number of initiatives together. Chávez never scrimped in displays of support for Ahmadinejad's Iran and immediately recognized the legitimacy of his second term as president and supported Tehran's nuclear policy.