Iran, Venezuela sign two decade cooperation deal

• Iran and Venezuela have signed a 20-year cooperation pact.
• The accord was signed during Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s two-day visit to Tehran.
• Both countries are subject to harsh US sanctions, as well as rising global food prices and rising tensions in the Mideast.

TEHRAN: Iran and Venezuela signed a 20-year cooperation pact on Saturday during Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s visit to Tehran, as per official media.

The signing of the agreement “demonstrates the determination of the two nations’ high-level authorities to deepen relations in various spheres,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said, according to state television.

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Iranian state media stated that Maduro praised Iran’s decision to provide petroleum tankers to his energy-starved country in an interview with him late Friday following his arrival.

“Tehran’s oil delivery to Caracas was a great help to the Venezuelan people,” he remarked.

Tensions are high across the Middle East as a result of the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, as US sanctions and rising global food prices squeeze Iran’s faltering economy, placing even more pressure on the country’s leadership and people.

Following Raisi’s invitation, a high-ranking political and economic delegation from Venezuela, which, like Iran, is subject to harsh US sanctions, is accompanying Maduro on his two-day visit.

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According to Maduro, Venezuela and Iran have “a shared perspective” on international matters and are both victims of coercive actions by the US and its allies.

“Caracas and Tehran have shaped the strategy of (a) resistance economy and are working to expand it,” he added.