TEHRAN, June 12(ABC): Iran and Venezuela signed a 20-year cooperation plan in Tehran as the two countries, among the world’s top oil producers, grapple with US sanctions that are crippling their exports.
The signing ceremony, carried by Iranian state TV, was overseen by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro and took place at the Saadabad Palace in north Tehran.
The plan includes cooperation in the fields of oil, petrochemicals, defence, agriculture, tourism, and culture and was signed by foreign ministers Hossein Amirabdollahian and Venezuela’s Carlos Faria.
It also includes repair of Venezuelan refineries and the export of technical and engineering services.
“Venezuela has shown exemplary resistance against sanctions and threats from enemies and Imperialists,” Iran’s Raisi said. “The 20-year cooperation document is testimony to the will of the two countries to develop ties.”
“Sanctions and threats against the Iranian nation over the past 40 plus years have been numerous, but the Iranian nation has turned these sanctions into an opportunity for the country’s progress,” he said.
Maduro said through an interpreter that a weekly flight from Caracas to Tehran would begin on July 18.