Iran’s Raisi to visit Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will on Sunday embark on a tour to visit Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, state news agency IRNA reported.

The tour aims to “strengthen relations with friendly countries and to increase economic and political cooperation” between Iran and the three countries, IRNA said.

“A significant number of countries in the Latin American region have close political and international views with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and economic and commercial cooperation between Iran and these countries can bring many benefits to both sides,” IRNA noted.

Iran has good relations with the three Latin American countries, who like Tehran, are also subject to US sanctions.

During a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in February, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega defended Iran’s right to develop nuclear weapons.

“We don’t love atomic bombs… but what authority (do Western powers have) to want to prohibit Iran if it wants to make atomic bombs?” Ortega asked.

Iran maintains that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes, an assertion disputed by Western powers.

In June, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited Tehran where he signed a 20-year pact which he said opened “major fronts” for cooperation in the petroleum, petrochemical and defense sectors.

Both Venezuela and Iran are oil producers and members of the OPEC cartel, placing them in the middle of international discussions on the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.