President Hugo Chávez confirmed that his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would visit Venezuela next September 27 for "a few hours," Efe reported on Tuesday.

"I spoke to President Ahmadinejad over the phone and he confirmed that, even though he has short time, he would be in Venezuela for a few hours, following his visit to Bolivia," Chávez said late Monday, as quoted by the official news agency ABN.

"Only one minute you come here means a world to us," Chávez told Ahmadinejad.

On Tuesday, Chávez supported Ahmadinejad, claiming that the Iranian ruler was the "target of an ambush" during his lecture in Columbia University, New York.

Chávez noted that Monday he spoke to Ahmadinejad over the phone and congratulated him "on behalf of the Venezuelan people, as he was facing renewed  attacks from the US empire," state TV channel VTV said, as quoted by AFP.