CARACAS: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi started a rare diplomatic trip of Latin America on Monday with a first stopover in Caracas, where he said Iran and Venezuela are “friends” with “common foes.”
Raisi’s travel schedule is also includes visits to Nicaragua and Cuba, who, like Venezuela and Iran, are all the target of US crippling sanctions.
In a joing press conference with Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, Raisi said that both nations had common interests, common enemies, and common visions, according to AFP.
He added that ties between Iran and Venezuela were not a normal diplomatic relationship, but a strategic one.
Maduro said that Iran was playing a key role as one of the most significant rising powers in the new world.
He said that Venezuela and Iran would be invincible together.
Part of the reason for Raisi’s visit was to increase trade between the two nations, iranian president said, up from the current 3 billion dollars a year to eventually 20 billion dollars.
The two leaders announced that they inked 25 agreements, across sectors ranging from health to education and mining.
The visit also aimed at developing technological cooperation and improving political, economic, and scientific cooperation among Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
Iran, Venezuela are key members of OPEC
Iran and Venezuela are also key members of the OPEC oil cartel, which has become central to international talks and dialogue on the energy crisis sparked by Russia-Ukraine war.
The conflict has renewed global efforts to resolve Venezuela’s political and economic crisis.
In 2022, the US sent delegates to Venezuela to meet Maduro, and after negotiations resumed between his government and the opposition in November, it granted a 6-month license to US energy company Chevron to operate in the country.
The South American nation, facing a serious economic meltdown, has the world’s largest oil reserves.
Raisi’s visit follows a previous diplomatic trip by Maduro, who visited Iran in June last year and inked a 20-year agreement to open “major fronts” for cooperation in the petrochemicals, oil, and defense sectors.
