Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza stressed that incumbent Iranian and Venezuelan governments have focused on different areas to expand and develop their bilateral relations.
“I think both President Maduro and President Rouhani have perfectly understood the need of focusing on some specific strategic areas to face the U.S. blockade against their countries, areas Venezuela holds as priority for the Venezuelan people. That is where we are focusing on.”
Speaking in an exclusive interview with IRNA, the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Arreaza referred to his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif’s recent visit to Venezuela and the Iranian oil tankers sent to Venezuela, saying that despite the U.S. cruel sanctions and the limitations caused by COVID-19 in the world, exchange of political delegations, trade and strategic cooperation between the two countries have not been affected.
Foreign Minister Arreaza also highlighted the factors that help Tehran and Caracas strengthen their relation and deep friendship. “Iran and Venezuela are two mid-sized powers that, in spite of the distance, share a lot more than we can believe.”
“First, we are anti-imperialist revolutions. We are revolutions under siege. We are two peoples that have decided to be free, and nothing and nobody can prevent us from that. We share the same processes and we also have common adversaries. Our great willingness to freedom and independence unites us. Furthermore, our economies also complement each other, and united, they add up. For instance, our great oil potential. We both are OPEC members. I think Commander Chávez, at the beginning of his time in office, clearly saw the diversification of the international relations of Venezuela, which was practically a U.S. neocolony in the late 1990s, needed strategic alliances with countries like the Islamic Republic of Iran that are so important in the economic, energy areas, and with a will to struggle,” added Arreaza.
Arreaza recalled that “the relation between Iran and Venezuela, 15 or 16 years ago, was strong in different areas, but it was perhaps too dispersed. There were no clear, specific objectives, maybe because of the circumstances. By then, Venezuela was not targeted, sieged, or blocked. We had a great availability of resources to invest in different areas to cover a lot of needs. And the Iranian Government made huge efforts under the Ayatollah’s leadership to help the Venezuelan people through Iran’s investments.”
“Now, it is a different time. I think both President Maduro and President Rouhani have perfectly understood the need of focusing on some specific strategic areas to face the U.S. blockade against their countries, areas Venezuela holds as priority for the Venezuelan people. That is where we are focusing on. For instance, energy and oil production are undoubtedly important, and so is the transport of goods and food,” added Arreaza, who highlighted that “Iran and Venezuela are giving an example of how we can move forward despite adversities and aggressions. We can move forward in the face of difficulties. It is what has happened in our bilateral relation in the last years. Growing to grow further in the future.”
Asked about Iranian Foreign Minister’s recent visit to Caracas, Arreaza underlined that they reviewed the bilateral relation, which has expanded in a very dynamic way in recent years. “We have a lot of projects. We specifically discussed the energy field, because Iran has been part of Venezuela’s efforts to fully reactivate its oil industry despite the U.S. sanctions.”
“The tankers carrying fuel that Iran sent to Venezuela was considered a challenge to the United States, but beyond that, it was an action of solidarity with the Venezuelan people, just like one decade ago, when our people and President Chavez expressed their solidarity with Iran in the face of an important siege. So, we reviewed our economic, productive, energy and cultural cooperation programs, and we are moving forward with them. Of course, we also discussed geopolitics in the world, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the changes that are taking place in the planet,” added Arreaza.
Early this year, the Venezuelan foreign minister visited Tehran and held some meetings. He talked about the possibility that Venezuelan and Iranian high-ranking officials exchange visits in the near future. “Right now, a Venezuelan delegation is in Iran, and an Iranian delegation is in Venezuela to review different sectors and move forward with a diversified cooperation focused on priority sectors. We are planning to hold the next joint bilateral commission with the participation of all the ministries and projects to make a leap forward to the future,” he said.
Regarding the recent elections held in the United States, Arreaza pointed out that “Rather than holding great expectations, we have always had our reflections about the elite ruling the United States and the need to maintain relations of respect with sovereign countries, cooperation relations and even friendly relations. A positive United States, a constructive United States that respects multilateralism and the right of the peoples to be free and fully develop. This would be a great added value to the world.”
“Regarding the new U.S. Government, we do not hold great expectations. We have always wished the elite ruling Washington to reflect on its own role in history, to understand that they are an empire in decline that refuses to die, to readapt and humanize its relations with the rest of the world,” insisted Arreaza, who added that in the face of the new U.S. administration, Caracas applies a “wait-and-see” policy.
“We are going to wait and see. If positive things are coming to the world, to Our America, to Venezuela, that is perfect. We welcome them. If they want to continue challenging us, we know how to respond. Our people’s awareness is high, and the free peoples of the world, like the Iranian and Venezuelan peoples, have a lot of conscience to overcome any obstacle, even those of an empire in decline,” he stressed.
Arreaza condemned that the Donald Trump’s government violated international laws in Venezuela, Iran, Cuba and many other countries. It violated the UN Charter and caused suffering to those peoples with its hostile, coercive measures and attacks, including the assassination of General Soleimani early this year, and the military threat and financial blockade against Venezuela.
Since the U.S. sanctions have caused a lot of damage to our economy and our people, said Arreaza, Venezuela’s position does not only represent a complaint, it is rather a denunciation of Washington’s behavior to impose the empire’s rule, and not the rule of international law.