Iranian President arrives in Venezuela as part of Latin American tour

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
12 Jun 2023 22:17
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Raisi's visit is intended to boost political and economic relations between Iran and Venezuela.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (IRNA)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived on Monday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, at the start of his Latin American tour, state-run Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

The news agency indicated that Raisi's trip is at the official invitation of his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro and is intended to boost political and economic relations between Iran and Venezuela.

According to Iranian media, the Iranian President will meet with Maduro and the chairmen of the Venezuelan National Council committees and hold a meeting with economic activists and businessmen from both Iran and Venezuela.

Before heading to Latin America, the Iranian President highlighted that Iran's relations with independent Latin American states are strategic.

He also pointed out that his tour will concentrate on countries that oppose an international system based on "unilateral hegemonic power."

Iran and Venezuela signed a 20-year partnership agreement last June to bolster bilateral cooperation in various fields during Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's visit to Tehran.

The partnership agreement includes cooperation in science, technology, agriculture, oil and gas, petrochemicals, tourism, and culture.

In early February, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stressed from Caracas the need to strengthen cooperation between Iran and Venezuela.

After Venezuela, Raisi will head to Nicaragua and Cuba, as per IRNA.

Raisi said his country's relations with those nations have been consistently friendly, especially taking into consideration the common views with Tehran on international issues.

"Our common position with these three countries is opposition to the [world’s] hegemonic system and unilateralism," he indicated, adding that Iran cooperates with those countries in numerous areas.

"Export of technical and engineering manpower is among our important cooperation areas," Raisi mentioned said, noting, "We also cooperate with Latin American countries in the fields of politics, energy, science and technology, medicine, and economy."

The Iranian President stressed that his tour is pivotal in developing Tehran’s ties with Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba.

This is considered Raisi's 13th foreign trip during the course of almost two years since being elected as Iran's president.

Alongside Raisi is a high-ranking delegation consisting of ministers of foreign affairs, oil, defense, and health while cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding are due to be signed on the trip.