Agencies-Gaza post
Venezuelan President commends Iran’s fuel shipments during his first visit
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on his first visit to Iran said the Islamic Republic helped his nation by sending fuel it desperately needed despite US sanctions and threats.
In an interview with Maduro late Friday after his arrival, Iranian state media reported that Maduro hailed Iran’s move to send oil tankers to his energy-starved nation.
“Tehran’s delivery of oil to Caracas has been of great help to the Venezuelan people,” he said.
Tensions across the Middle East are high over the failure of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers as US sanctions and rising global food prices stifle a struggling Iranian economy, putting further pressure on its government and its own people.
A high-ranking political and economic delegation from Venezuela, which like Iran is under heavy US sanctions, accompanies Maduro on a two-day visit, at the invitation of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
Maduro said he will meet Raisi on Saturday to discuss a 20-year cooperation plan between the two countries.
“The need to inform the Iranian and Venezuelan nations well about the sanctions war and find ways to firmly counter them” would be debated, Maduro said on Iranian English-language PressTV.
Maduro said Venezuela and Iran are united by “a common vision” on international issues and are both victims of coercive measures by the United States and its allies.
“Caracas and Tehran have shaped the strategy of (a) resistance economy and are working to expand it,” he said.
Maduro is on tour in Eurasia after being turned down by Washington, which has decided not to invite him to the Summit of the Americas. His stops earlier this week included Algeria and Turkey.
Turkey is one of the few places in the world – Russia, and Iran are other friendly states – where Maduro is welcome amid US sanctions against his country.
Venezuela, along with Cuba and Nicaragua, was not invited by President Joe Biden’s administration to the summit due to their authoritarianism and human rights violations. This also led to the Mexican president’s decision not to attend.
Venezuela has received Iranian oil tankers in its ports in the past, and Iran has also exported cars to Venezuela.
