Iran and Venezuela, two oil countries under US sanctions, signed a 20-year cooperation agreement on Saturday aimed at strengthening their alliance, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi announced.
“The signing of a 20-year strategic cooperation agreement (…) shows the determination of the senior officials of the two countries to develop bilateral relations in various fields”, affirmed Ebrahim Raïssi during a statement to the press with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, visiting the country.
This strategic document was signed by the Foreign Ministers of the two countries. “The relevant ministers signed cooperation agreements in the political, economic, tourism, oil and petrochemical fields,” detailed the official Iranian agency Irna.
Nicolas Maduro, who arrived in Iran on Friday, welcomed in his statement to the press “the unwavering friendship between the two countries”.
“We have important cooperation projects in the fields of defence, energy, oil, gas, refineries and the petrochemical sector”, he declared, also mentioning “the financial cooperation with the Iranian-Venezuelan National Development Bank”. President Maduro also reported “joint plans to manufacture food in Venezuela and export it to Iran and the region”.
Inauguration of a Tehran-Caracas flight
High-level joint meetings are to take place during his short visit, according to the official Irna agency. In addition, Nicolas Maduro announced the inauguration on July 18 of the Tehran-Caracas flight to promote tourism between the two countries. “Venezuela is ready to receive tourists from Iran who can enjoy the beauty of the Caribbean, the Andes and the Amazon,” he said.
For his part, Ebrahim Raisi paid tribute to Venezuela’s “resistance” to the United States. “Venezuela has gone through difficult years, but the determination of the people, officials and the president of the country has made it possible to resist the sanctions,” said the Iranian president.
“Today this country has overcome hyper-inflation and economic growth has begun. This is a good sign that proves to everyone that the resistance will work and will force the enemy to retreat,” he added.
In May, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji paid an official visit to Venezuela, the country with the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world, and met with President Maduro.
Allies against the United States
During his trip, Javad Owji had also spoken with his Venezuelan counterpart Tareck El Aissami to find ways to deal with the crippling sanctions imposed by the United States on the two countries.
Relations between the two oil producers were strong during the time of socialist leader Hugo Chavez (between 1999 and 2013) and were further strengthened under his successor.
Before Iran, Nicolas Maduro went in recent days to Turkey and then to Algeria.
In 2020, Venezuela received two shipments of fuel and derivatives from Iran to help address domestic shortages.