Argentine President Javier Milei, a staunch ally of US President Donald Trump and Israel, on Monday hailed the benefits of the Iran war for his country's exports and foreign currency reserves.
The libertarian Milei, who has backed Washington and Israel's strikes on Iran, said he expected an "improvement" in oil and agricultural exports as a result of the 10-day-old conflict, said AFP.
Oil soared past $100 a barrel for the first time in four years on Monday, as Iran fired a new barrage of missiles at its US-allied oil-rich Gulf neighbors and signalled that the Strait of Hormuz would likely remain shut.
Argentina is Latin America's fourth-largest oil producer.
"Argentina, in this context, will see an improvement in its terms of trade because oil prices are rising, and Argentina is a net exporter," Milei told Argentine radio station FM NOW.
"Furthermore, all the grains that Argentina exports, soybeans, corn, and sunflower, are also rising in price," Milei said in an interview from New York, where he was participating in an investment promotion event.
Last week, wheat reached its highest level in a year and soybeans hit their highest point since June 2014 as the war drove up energy and fertilizer costs.
Milei emphasized that the war would boost Argentina's efforts to build up its foreign currency reserves, as demanded by the International Monetary Fund in return for a new $20 billion loan agreement signed last year.
The oil and gas sector accounts for 13.5 percent of Argentina's exports, second behind the agricultural sector, which accounts for more than 60 percent of foreign sales.
Soybeans amount to 24.6 percent of total exports.
