The Iranian government declared a day of mourning on Wednesday following the death of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, local media reported.

On Tuesday, Venezuela's President Chavez died in a military hospital in capital Caracas of Venezuela. In honor of the deceased president, the Iranian government declared a mourning day in the country on Wednesday, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

Iran and Venezuela strengthened ties substantially since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to office in 2005. Chavez and Ahmadinejad met several times in the past years and described each other as allies as opposed to "US imperialism."