Iran and Cuba have held talks on ship construction, aiming to utilize domestic capacities to meet the demand of South American countries, the head of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO), Ali Akbar Safaei. said on Tuesday. 

So far, Tehran has invested nearly $16 million to construct port-related infrastructure, almost evenly split between the public and private sectors, in the past 12 months, Safei explained. 

The official reiterated President Ebrahim Raisi's government's emphasis on strengthening commercial and industrial relations with countries friendly to Iran. Safei underlined continued maritime trade and transport between Iran and South American countries, especially Venezuela. 

Iran hosts an advanced shipbuilding industry, which Safei described as "globally renowned," but unilateral Western sanctions affected its operations. Nonetheless, the Iranian government and private sectors have sought alternate markets, delivering 3 vessels, weighing 90,000 tons, to Venezuela. 

As for Cuba, another nation subject to the sanctions of the US-led Western bloc, Iran is discussing the possibility of utilizing the country's domestic capacity to meet the demands of South American countries for vessels. 

Safei also revealed that Iran achieved a record of 9 million tons of trade with Caspian Sea countries, mostly due to increases in trade with Russia and Kazakhstan. 

Iran has looked into joint cooperation on the construction of vessels and aircraft with Russia at an earlier time. The country has also deployed several of its homegrown military vessels in 2024, including catamaran ships and improved frigates. 

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