South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Venezuela, Iran sign off on long-term cooperation pact
TEHRAN, Iran — Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and Iran’s hardline president signed a 20-year cooperation agreement Saturday, a day after Maduro praised the Islamic Republic for sending badly needed fuel to his nation despite U.S. sanctions.
Iranian state media reported late Friday that Maduro hailed Iran’s move to send tankers to his energy-hungry nation.
“Tehran’s delivery of oil to Caracas was a great help to the Venezuelan people,” he said.
Maduro’s first visit to Iran comes amid tensions across the Middle East over the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. U.S. sanctions and rising global food prices that are choking Iran’s ailing economy, putting further pressure on its government.
A high-ranking political and economic delegation from Venezuela — which like Iran is under heavy U.S. sanctions — is accompanying Maduro on his visit, following an invitation from hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi.
On Saturday, Raisi and Maduro signed a 20-year agreement to expand ties in the oil and petrochemical industries, the military and the economy.
Iranian English-language PressTV quoted Maduro before the news conference as saying the two men would meet to discuss “the need to well inform the Iranian and Venezuelan nations about the war of sanctions and find ways to counter them with steadfastness.”
Maduro said Venezuela and Iran are united by “a common vision” on international issues and are both victims of coercive measures by the United States and its allies.
“Caracas and Tehran have shaped the strategy of (a) resistance economy and are working to expand it,” he said.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said that the successful experience of the two countries showed that the only way to face the United States’ pressures and wars is “to resist.” He thanked Maduro and the people of Venezuela, saying “today, the United States views Venezuela differently.”
Maduro is on a tour that included stops in Algeria and Turkey after President Joe Biden decided not to invite him to the Summit of the Americas, which ended Friday.
Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua were not invited to the summit by the Biden administration due to their authoritarianism and human rights violations. That led to Mexico’s president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, announcing he would not attend.
Raisi praised Maduro as a leader “who has shown a policy of fighting against imperialism and has achieved a good position by overcoming sanctions and threats.”
Maduro announced that a direct flight between Tehran and Caracas would begin in July.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency later reported Iran delivered the oil tanker Aframax-2 to Venezuelan officials, the second of four vessels Iran was contracted to build for the country.