Iran's Raisi hails 'new world order' in meeting with Maduro in Venezuela
TEHRAN -- Tehran and Caracas signed 19 cooperation agreements during Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's visit to Venezuela to start a five-day tour that will take him to Nicaragua and Cuba as well.
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At a press conference in Caracas late Monday, Raisi sat next to his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, and announced that the two sides had set a goal to push up their annual trade volume from a current $3 billion to $10 billion "at the first stage." The figure, he said, could well hit the $20 billion mark, according to his official website. The Iranian president did not specify the desired time frame.
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Raisi suggested that such a plan was part of Iran's greater strategy to expand relations with "freedom-seeking, independent" nations in an emerging "new world order."
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The ambitious trade goal was picked up by the hard-line Iranian daily Farhikhtegan. "The $20bn friend," the paper's headline read on Tuesday.
The memorandums closed by representatives from the two sides encompassed such sectors as energy, agriculture, mining, medicine and maritime transport. The Iranian defense minister also accompanied Raisi during the visit, but it was not immediately clear if the two nations had clinched deals on military cooperation.
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In separate reporting, the hard-line Tasnim News Agency highlighted what it said was Maduro's admiration of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike outside Baghdad's international airport in early 2020. Tasnim cited Maduro as saying that Soleimani had come to Venezuela's rescue when the country's infrastructure was "hit by an American cyberattack a few years ago." Maduro promised to soon erect a Soleimani bust near the tomb of Venezuela's national hero Simon Bolivar, according to the Iranian outlet.
Iran and Venezuela have increasingly deepened their ties over the past 15 years. The theocracy in Tehran and the leftist revolutionary state in Caracas share commonalities in their anti-American policies, which have cost them severe US economic sanctions. The two countries are currently also grappling with skyrocketing inflation rates and fast-widening social stratification.
"A balanced foreign policy, dynamic diplomacy and smart interaction shape the doctrine of the Raisi government in its international relations," wrote Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in an op-ed for the state-run IRNA News Agency before the delegation's departure.
Raisi's Venezuela trip was his 13th official visit abroad in less than two years in office, an indication of his administration's attempts to alleviate the burden of Western pressure by engaging in long-term "strategic" pacts.
Yet the same period has seen Iranian's standard of living deteriorate unprecedentedly, official data confirm, with the Iranian national currency sliding down to half of its value, which has in turn triggered a nearly 60% shoot-up in basic prices.