Iran and Venezuela Celebrate 70 Years of Bilateral Relations

This Sunday, Venezuela and Iran are celebrating 70 years of bilateral relations with a floral offering before the Father of the Nation of the Bolivarian Republic, Simon Bolivar, at the National Pantheon.

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Participating in the ceremony were Vice President of Planning, Ricardo Menendez; Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza, and Iran’s ambassador to Venezuela Hojjtollah Soltani, among other authorities.

In his statements, Menendez said "we are commemorating 70 years of bilateral relations between Iran and Venezuela, and especially in the strategic vision of geopolitics that our country and the Bolivarian Revolution have marked."

He added that what the two nations share is a geopolitics of peace, integration, and one which is for the improvement of the quality of life for the people of Venezuela.

Menendez recalled that when Commander Hugo Chavez initially conceived relations with Iran, it was precisely “to get closer among equals, between our countries, without any hegemonic factor, or mediation between sovereign countries, that is why our relationship is South-South, between us, without an imperial referee, also characterized by an anti-imperialist conception.”

The Venezuelan authority said that they will be headed for the IX Joint Commission to deepen their relationship in science and technology, in cooperation schemes linked to health and food safety issues affecting the two countries.

Meanwhile, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Venezuela, Hojjatollah Soltani, celebrated these 70 years by reflecting on the advancement of “two brother peoples, two peoples in solidarity.”

"We follow the principles of our leaders, the Liberator Simón Bolívar and Ayatollah Khomeini, to establish justice, brotherhood, brotherhood between countries, and as their followers give reality to their dreams," said the diplomat.

Despite the U.S. blockades imposed on both Iran and Venezuela, the two countries’ leaders have sought cooperation as reflected with the five Iranian ships that recently arrived in Venezuela transporting fuel.

The two countries also celebrated the opening of an Iranian-Venezuelan supermarket in Caracas at the end of July, which came about through an alliance between the private non-governmental sector of Iran and Venezuela.