This visit by Raisi to Venezuela and other Latin American countries underscores Iran’s desire to strengthen ties with its allies in the region.
Nicolas Maduro and Raisi in Tehran, 2022
247 — Iranian leader Ebrahim Raisi set foot on Venezuelan soil this Monday (12) in his first foray into Latin America, aiming to forge ties with nations he considers “friends,” AFP reported. Raisi, elected in 2021, was welcomed by Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yván Gil at Caracas’ Simón Bolívar Airport.
“In the past two years, our cooperation with these countries has developed in the fields of industry, agriculture, science, technology and medicine,” Raisi told the state news agency IRNA before leaving Tehran. “This trip has the potential to be a turning point in intensifying our relations with Latin American countries,” he added.
The fiveday visit also takes him to Cuba and Nicaragua, where meetings with local and Iranian businessmen are planned. Iran is one of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s key international allies. Both countries, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), are facing sanctions from the United States aimed at weakening their economies.
In 2020, Iran sent 1.5 million barrels of gasoline and supplies to reactivate Venezuelan refineries, which were paralyzed by an intense shortage crisis. In February, Maduro received Iranian diplomat Hossein AmirAbdollahian in Caracas. In June 2022, during Maduro’s visit to Tehran, both governments signed a 20year cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening their alliance.
The last time an Iranian president visited Cuba and Venezuela was in 2016, when Hassan Rouhani was in the region before attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In January 2007, his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Nicaragua. In February this year, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega defended Iran’s right to acquire nuclear weapons.
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This visit by Raisi to Venezuela and other Latin American countries underscores Iran’s desire to strengthen ties with its allies in the region. The meeting between Raisi and Maduro, as well as meetings with local businessmen, suggests the intention to promote trade deals and cooperation in several areas.
The USimposed sanctions are having an impact on Venezuela’s and Iran’s economies, and the Iranian President’s visit can be interpreted as an expression of political and economic support for Maduro. Iran’s delivery of gasoline and precursors to Venezuela in 2020 shows the willingness of both countries to work together and deal with the difficulties caused by the sanctions.
Raisi’s trip to Latin America marks an important development in relations between Iran and Latin American nations and could pave the way for further strengthening of those ties in the future.