Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Sudan Sunday night for talks expected to focus on boosting political and economic ties between the two allies, Sudanese officials said.

Iran, along with China, is one of the biggest supporters of Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who faces indictment from the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in the long-running Darfur conflict.

Shunned by the West, Sudan, which is facing an economic crisis after losing much of its oil wealth to newly independent South Sudan, is keen to expand trade ties with Iran. Most Western firms avoid Sudan due to a tough U.S. trade embargo.

Sudan and Iran have also strong military ties after signing a cooperation agreement in 2008.

During his two-day visit Ahmadinejad will meet Bashir on Monday and give a speech in the capital Khartoum, officials in the Sudanese foreign ministry said.

Bashir has supported the Iranian nuclear programme which Washington says is to build nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

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