Iran's Raisi visits sanctioned trio Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Venezuela on Monday for the start of a visit to "friendly countries" that also include Cuba and Nicaragua, all under sanctions from a common adversary, the United States.

Raisi was welcomed in Caracas by Foreign Minister Yván Gil, and was due to meet President Nicolás Maduro later in the day.

Before departing Tehran, Raisi had said his visit was at the invitation of the presidents of "friendly countries" Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, and was aimed at improving "economic, political and scientific cooperation".

The four countries are all allies of Russia, an international pariah since its invasion of Ukraine last year.

"Over the last two years, our cooperation with these countries has developed… in the domains of industry, agriculture, science, technology and medicine," Raisi told Iran's official IRNA news agency.

Iran and Venezuela are members of the OPEC oil cartel, central to international discussions on the energy crisis sparked by Russia's war on Ukraine.

The war has seen global efforts intensify to solve Venezuela's political and economic crisis.

Last year, the US sent delegates to Caracas to meet Maduro, and after talks resumed between his government and the opposition in November, Washington granted a six-month license to US energy giant Chevron to operate in Venezuela.

The South American country has the world's largest oil reserves.

Maduro visited Iran in June 2022, signing a 20-year pact to open "major fronts" for cooperation in the oil, petrochemicals and defence sectors.

In February, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian visited Caracas and discussed with Maduro the "defence of their national interests faced with external pressures", according to Tehran.

In 2020, Iran sent 1.5 million barrels of fuel to Venezuela along with supplies to help restart struggling refineries. Washington has since accused Iran of circumventing sanctions.

The last Iranian president to visit Cuba and Venezuela was Hassan Rouhani in September 2016. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the last presidential visit to Nicaragua in 2007.