Iran wants to make Latin American countries one of the "priorities" of its commercial relations, President Ebrahim Raisi assured this Monday, after a meeting with the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Felix Plasencia.
"Latin America, specifically Venezuela, is one of the priorities of Iran’s economic diplomacy and we are determined to develop our relations with these countries."Raissi said, according to the official Irna press agency.
Leading a delegation, Plasencia met on Monday in Tehran with senior Iranian officials.
Iran wishes "the significant development of relations with developing countries, especially with those seeking to maintain their independence from dominant countries"Raisi added, referring to the United States.
Washington imposed sanctions on oil exports from Venezuela and Iran – both major oil producing states – as well as on many government and military officials.
"With a long-term cooperation plan between the two countries, there is a clear vision to expand and deepen relations"Raisi stated.
The Venezuelan foreign minister also met with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
"In the coming months, we will have the visit of the president (of Venezuela) Nicolás Maduro in Tehran, during which a 20-year cooperation pact will be signed"Amir-Abdollahian said, without detailing the deal.
For several years, Venezuela has faced an economic and political crisis, while the Iranian economy has suffered from the reinstatement of US sanctions in 2018 following the unilateral withdrawal of former US President Donald Trump from the international nuclear deal with Iran.
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