The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, arrived in Iran this Fridayin a two-day official visit in which he announced that they will sign a cooperation plan over 20 years.
The Venezuelan president’s visit to Iran, a close ally of Caracas, is part of a tour that has taken him to Turkey and Algeria this week.
In an interview with Iranian television HispantvMaduro announced a weekly flight route Caracas to Tehran, that they could sell Venezuelan coffee to the Persians and that they plan to sign an agreement on Saturday in different areas of cooperation and that it will operate over the next 20 years, but he did not give details.
The official Iranian agency said that in the two-day visit, Maduro will meet with his counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi. ‘Looking forward to meeting the Iranian president’said the president.
Iran and Venezuela, both sanctioned by the United States, have expanded cooperation since 2020, particularly for energy projects and oil swapswhich have helped the Caribbean nation alleviate the effect of Washington’s measures.
In May, Iran’s state-owned National Petroleum Engineering and Construction Company signed a contract worth some 110 million euros to repair Venezuela’s smallest refinery, 146,000 barrels per dayIRNA said at the time.
The agreement was sealed after recent negotiations with the presence of the Iranian Oil Minister, Javad Owji, who was in the South American country at the beginning of last month and met with Maduro.
Then four sources told Reuters that Iranian state-owned companies began preparations to repair the largest refinery in Venezuela, the Paraguaná Refining Centerof 955,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Those refining deals would deepen energy cooperation that has become a lifeline for the Venezuelan oil industry amid a crisis sparked by decades of mismanagement and underinvestment, aggravated by U.S. sanctions.
Additionally, Iran has sent the South American country shipments of gasoline and crude oil to feed the refineries.
Reference-aristeguinoticias.com
