The relations between Iran and Venezuela have a history of more than a hundred years; both are considered to be the original founders of OPEC. But the relations between Iran and Venezuela have developed significantly in the last two decades.

The inauguration of Hugo Chavez, the former president of Venezuela, opened a new chapter in the relations between the two countries. In the last two decades, great steps have been taken to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Despite the previous fluctuations in the relations between the two countries, the inauguration of the government of Ebrahim Raisi was key to the development of relations with Latin America with meetings and statements. Nicolas Maduro's visit to Tehran in June 2022 has reached its peak with the signing of the 20-year bilateral cooperation roadmap.

The 20-year bilateral cooperation roadmap in energy, defense, agriculture, engineering, tourism, and culture is consistent with Ebrahim Raisi's foreign policy.

The cooperation between Tehran and Caracas has also expanded on the sidelines of multilateral forums, including the United Nations General Assembly, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Assembly of Gas Exporting Countries, and OPEC.

Iran and Venezuela have common interests and views. Tehran considers the relations between Iran and Venezuela as strategic relations with a strategic partner with substantial economic potential for Iran. Frequent bilateral visits are a confirmation of this issue.

During the recent official visit of Ebrahim Raisi to Venezuela, the high-ranking officials of the two countries signed 19 cooperation documents in the presence of the two countries' presidents.

Cooperation and participation in fields such as "communications and information technology, energy, insurance, maritime transport, higher education, agriculture, medicine, cultural exchanges, as well as the development of mining cooperation" were among the recently signed important documents. Venezuela is politically and economically important for Tehran. There is a political commonality in many areas between the two countries.

Bilateral relations in international organizations and assemblies, dissatisfaction with the right of veto in the Security Council, emphasis on equality of votes in international organizations and assemblies, condemnation of political and economic pressures by the United States, "development of South-South relations", "opposition to unipolar international order," the pursuit of common values in foreign policy, and the creation of a multilateral and multipolar order, among other, have brought the two sides together.

By developing its relations with Latin America, Iran pursues a change in world order and power. Iran and Venezuela are heavily under US sanctions. Several thousand cases of sanctions against Tehran and hundreds of sanctions against Venezuela have strengthened the ties between Iran and Venezuela. Standing up against the US pressure is an important part of relations. In fact, the challenge with the United States has also been one of the characteristics of Caracas' foreign policy in the past years, and Venezuela's approach to the Middle East and the Islamic world is to firmly support Palestine in accordance with Iran’s interests.

It seems that the extent of Iran's presence in Latin America is a kind of answer to the potential US threats in the Middle East. From Tehran's point of view, the existence of a country allied with Iran near the United States and increasing Iran's security influence near the borders of the United States are still strategic. Moreover, Iran is gradually becoming known as one of the world's military producers. It seems that the arms cooperation with Iran, Tehran's help in the production of multi-purpose drones, the dispatch of advisory teams, military training, participation of research centers and development of weapons, and the sale of cyber security and internal security equipment have expanded.

The comprehensive document of the 20-year strategic cooperation between the two countries includes cooperation between Tehran and Caracas in the fields of tourism, economy, oil, and petrochemicals.

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One of the fields of cooperation between the two countries is automobiles, and Iran’s company, Saipa, has committed to producing automobiles in Venezuela. Last year, about 80 Iranian companies took the first step in creating an industrial park in Venezuela at the Caracas Science and Technology Exhibition.

Tehran has plans to invest in the production of goods in Venezuela and achieve a larger share of Latin American countries in the market of 10 South American countries.

In Venezuela's energy field, in the fields of oil exports, construction, maintenance, and repair of refineries, the sale of necessary materials for refining, the sale of oil tankers, and the increase of production from wells are very important opportunities for Iran.

Previously, Tehran and Caracas were able to sign an oil swap agreement, and Iran's gas condensate export and Iran's crude oil export to Venezuela are important. Venezuela's refineries were decommissioned in the past years due to sanctions and depreciation, but with the help of Iran with the overhaul and reconstruction of the refinery and the import of spare parts from Iran, cooperation in the field of energy has expanded.

During the Iranian President's trip to Latin America, several energy contracts between Iran and Venezuela in the areas of 3.6 billion dollars, export and equipping of 5 gas pressure boosting stations in Venezuela, reconstruction and renovation of a petrochemical complex for ammonia production, issuing technical services, and the engineering and development of the oil terminal were signed.

From Tehran's point of view, this approach puts Iran's energy industry on the path of internationalization, and other negotiations and agreements, development of oil fields, and export of equipment, etc... have been carried out.

In addition, with the signing of dozens of agreements, Iran's other programs in Venezuela include the construction of petroleum refineries, telecommunication equipment, nano, various industrial sectors, assembly and automobile manufacturing, tractor manufacturing, medicine and medical equipment, power plant, technical and engineering services, stone production, gold, and iron.

Meanwhile, having about 30 million hectares of fertile arable land, Venezuela is one of the most prominent options for Iran's land cultivation. As part of the June 2022 road map, Iran pursues extraterritorial cultivation and food production in Venezuela and pursues goals such as improving food security and increase in food consumption.

In the last Iranian year, despite the continuation of sanctions, Iran was able to increase its exports to Venezuela to 3 billion and 600 million dollars (118 million dollars of non-oil exports) with a 416% growth in exports. The main non-oil goods exported by Iran to Venezuela are a combination of cars, spare parts and bodies, fishery products, sweets and chocolates, foundry machinery, tractors, tankers, syringes, and electronic devices.

Cultural and educational exchanges are also necessary components and so far, the two countries have signed 6 documents including in the field of student exchange, artistic collaborations, etc.

Vision

In the past two decades, although some Iranian investments in Venezuela did not achieve the desired results, and the distance of twelve thousand kilometers created many obstacles, the will of the leaders of the two societies is converging. There is a lot of capacity to expand bilateral cooperation, and Tehran intends to increase the volume of bilateral commercial exchanges to 10 billion dollars in the first step and to 20 billion dollars in the second step. In the meantime, with the activation of the Joint Economic Commission, the strengthening of the airline and shipping lines, and the establishment of a technology office in Venezuela, relations will be further developed.