صراط عشق صراط عشق
Iran and Venezuela signed 19 documents to strengthen cooperation in various spheres as President Ebrahim Raisi visited the country at the start of his visit to South America.
The agreements were signed by senior officials of the two countries during a ceremony here, overseen by Presidents Ebrahim Raisi and Nicolas Maduro.
The documents cover a variety of sectors, including communications and information technology, energy, insurance, maritime transport, higher education, agriculture, medicine, cultural exchanges, and mining.
At a joint presser, President Raisi said the Iranian nation has proved its friendship with the Venezuelan people and showed that it is a “friend in need.”
Raisi said the two countries have the capacity to expand their bilateral trade volume to $20 billion.
Raisi arrived in the Venezuelan capital early Tuesday on the first leg of his three-nation tour of Latin America, which will also take him to Cuba and Nicaragua.
He said Iran and Venezuela can expand their bilateral trade volume in two phases, $10 billion in the first phase, and then expanding it to $20 billion, from around $3 billion at the moment.
“The relationship between Iran and Venezuela is not a normal diplomatic relationship, but a strategic relationship between two countries that have common interests, common visions, and common enemies,” Raisi said.
Iran, he said, has proved its friendship with the Latin American country “in difficult days” over the years, describing the bilateral relations as “strategic.”
He further called for activating shipping lines between Iran and Venezuela and urged the strengthening of cooperation between the two sides in industry, mining, energy, and banking sectors.
Raisi noted that despite measures taken by the two countries to develop their relations, there is still untapped potential for the expansion of ties between them.
Both Iran and Venezuela have been under U.S. sanctions for years, and have taken a series of measures in recent years to expand relations.
“I offer my respect to the wise, noble, and valuable people of Venezuela, who are resisting cruel imperialism. We are friends in difficult times,” said Raisi, adding Tehran and Caracas have “common enemies,” in a veiled reference to the U.S.
Raisi said a new world order is being formed, favoring free and independent states while “imperialism is falling.”
Iran, Venezuela Sign 19 Cooperation Documents
Speaking on joint efforts to reduce economic dependence on oil revenues and bolstering the resistance of their respective economies “against the arrogant system and to overcome the sanctions,” Raisi said: “In the new world that is being formed, imperialism is falling and the countries that have resisted the arrogance of the arrogant are on the verge of victory.”
Maduro, for his part, said the two countries stand “on the right side of history” and will be “invincible,” in reference to their resistance to U.S. sanctions.
“After imperial aggressions, after more than 900 criminal sanctions, here is Venezuela standing holding out its hand to Iran,” the Venezuelan president said.
He referred to the recent revelation by former U.S. President Donald Trump that toward the end of Trump’s tenure, Venezuela was “about to collapse” and that the U.S. “would have taken over it, we would have kept all that oil.”
“Former President of the United States has confessed to a crime against humanity, and against the noble and peaceful people of Venezuela. He declared that the objective of his government and of the aggression and the sanctions against Venezuela was to make Venezuelan society collapse so that the imperialist power of the United States would seize Venezuelan oil and wealth,” Maduro said.
Iran is one of Venezuela’s main allies in the world, and the presidents of the two countries have so far met on six occasions.
In 2022, Maduro visited Iran, where he signed a 20-year pact to cooperate in the oil, petrochemicals, and defense sectors.
The two presidents on Tuesday said the two countries have reached agreements in many fields, including economy, trade, science, technology, energy, and culture, and that they are determined to deepen and strengthen relations even further.
“Iran is playing a stellar role as one of the most important emerging powers in the new world,” Maduro noted.
He also said investments in the fields of energy, oil, gas, gold, technology, and health between the two countries should be increased.
“I have asked the president of Iran for increasing support for the development of powerful cooperation in science and technology, and our scientists are already working together,” he said.
During his visit, Raisi was also awarded Venezuela’s National Medal of Honor by Maduro.
