Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will begin next Sunday a tour of “friendly countries” in Latin America, which will take him to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, with which he hopes to strengthen relations, according to the Iranian state agency IRNA.
For the moment neither the Presidency nor the Iranian Foreign Ministry has made a public statement on this issue.
CNN is seeking confirmation from the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua about the visit of the Iranian president, without having obtained a response so far.
According to the Iranian state agency, Raisi will lead a delegation that will try to develop “economic, political and scientific” cooperation, in what would be his first trip to the region since his inauguration in August 2021.
The Iranian government did not detail the objectives of the head of state’s trip to Latin America and only emphasized that he “seeks new support on the international scene”.
Venezuela is one of the countries closest to the Iranian regime. A year ago, the president of that country, Nicolas Maduro, visited Tehran and signed cooperation agreements on defense, energy, oil and gas, among others.
At the end of February, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met in Geneva, Switzerland, and pledged to “continue working for the strengthening of binational relations”.