During his brief visit, the Iranian leader met with Cuban President Raul Castro as well as with his 85-year-old brother and revolutionary icon Fidel Castro. A joint statement issued late Wednesday by Raul Castro and Ahmadinejad highlighted the "right of all nations to the peaceful use of nuclear energy," in an implicit swipe at the West's intense pressure to foil a suspected Iranian bid to acquire nuclear weapons. "We had good meetings with Commander Fidel Castro. We touched on many issues. It gave me great pleasure to see Commander Fidel safe and sound, " Ahmadinejad told reporters Thursday through an interpreter. "We saw how he follows all the regional and world development in detail," he added before boarding the Ecuador-bound plane, that took off at 1325 GMT. Raul Castro, who saw off the Iranian leader at the airport, described the visit as "very good and fruitful." Ahmadinejad arrived in Cuba on Wednesday as the Islamic republic blamed Israel and the United States for the killing of a nuclear scientist in a Tehran car bombing. The scientist's killing heightened already high tensions with the West over Iran's nuclear program, but a defiant Ahmadinejad flashed the victory sign several times after landing in Havana. During a meeting with students at the University of Havana, Ahmadinejad said capitalism was a system "in decay" and criticized the United States without directly referring to the increasingly tense nuclear standoff. Cuba and Iran share similar positions in international organizations, with Tehran condemning the half-century US trade embargo against Cuba and Havana recognizing Iran's right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The United States and its allies have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons in the guise of a peaceful enrichment program, charges denied by Tehran.