Raeisi: Iran seeks to expand ties with Latin America

“Latin America, especially Venezuela, is one of the priorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s economic diplomacy, and we are determined to develop our relations with these countries,” Raeisi said in a Monday meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia in Tehran.

The Iranian president emphasized the need to expand Tehran-Caracas relations in different fields, adding that a clear and long-term plan should be devised for the development of bilateral relations.

Raeisi expressed hope that a visit by the Venezuelan president to Tehran in the near future will pave the way for long-term bilateral cooperation.

The visiting top diplomat described Iran and Venezuela as two friendly countries which are united against the system of domination in the world and those who seek to harm the two countries’ independence.

Plasencia called Iran an important and influential country in the region, stressing that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will stand by Iran in defending multilateralism and countering U.S. interventionism.

The Venezuelan top diplomat also sat down for talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian.

In a joint press conference, the Iranian foreign minister announced that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will visit Tehran in the coming months and that during his trip the foreign ministers of Iran and Venezuela will sign a 20-year cooperation document.

“We have had good agreements in the technical, economic, commercial, science and technology, energy, and mining fields between the two countries in recent years and important parts of them are being implemented,” Amirabdollahian noted.

He also described U.S. policies against Venezuela as unconstructive, and condemned the recent extradition of a Venezuelan diplomat from Cape Verde to the United States calling it piracy and a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty.