Havana. Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Raisi completed his trip to Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela on Thursday in Havana.
The aim of Raisi’s visits, accompanied by a high-level delegation, was “to strengthen political, economic and scientific cooperation in line with his government’s foreign policy.”
In Havana, the Iranian President had a Cuban-Iranian Economic Forum opened, emphasizing that cooperation in the fields of biotechnology, power generation, mining and technology exchange is an option. According to Raisi, the joint development of a Covid-19 vaccine is a symbol of cooperation between Iran and Cuba.
In which Meet Several agreements and memoranda of understanding were signed with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, including a comprehensive cooperation program, a customs agreement and another on the training of personnel for the customs authorities of both countries. During a joint visit to the Center for Genetic and Biotechnology, Raisi found out about the work of Cuban scientists in the field of biotechnology.
During the Iranian head of state’s stay in Nicaragua, he was received by President Daniel Ortega. Three declarations of intent were made signed: on a joint government commission for economic and trade cooperation, on scientific and technical exchanges between the two countries, on cooperation in the fields of law and justice, and on the supply of medicines, medical equipment and consumables.
Before visiting Nicaragua, Raisi had met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Within this framework, 25 cooperation agreements were sealed, in particular on cooperation in the fields of communications and information technology, animal husbandry, maritime transport, insurance, petrochemicals, mining, medicine and technological innovation.
Venezuela and Iran enjoy close political, economic and diplomatic ties that have been strengthened by increasing Washington interference and the imposition of sanctions on both countries.
During the visit to Venezuela, Raisi also commented on US sanctions affecting all four countries. In an interview with the Latin American TV channel Telesur said He said the US was slapping punitive measures on countries that didn’t agree with its policies, and described the dispute as “a war for the will of a people striving for independence, threatened by a hegemonic system that wants to oppress them.”
US State Department spokesman John Kirby condemned on Tuesday the Iranian President’s visit to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. He described the visit as destabilizing and contrary to the interests of the region. According to Kirby, Iran is being sanctioned by the US and other countries for “sponsoring terrorism”, for its nuclear program and for human rights violations.