President: Iran-Venezuela Cooperation to Benefit Middle East, Latin America

In a meeting with the visiting Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, here in Tehran on Saturday, President Rouhani emphasized that the two countries enjoy common stances on political and international issues, and called for further mutual cooperation between the two sides at the international bodies, like the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

“Tehran-Caracas cooperation in these organizations is beneficial to the Middle East and Latin American regions and can also lead to the establishment of security and the development in the international arena,” he said.

“The expansion of relations with Latin American states, including Venezuela, is among the Iranian administration’s policies,” Rouhani said.

He also voiced the Islamic Republic’s preparedness to export Iranian goods and services to Venezuela, and expressed the hope that mutual cooperation between the two nations would boost in diverse areas, including trade and investment, technical and engineering services, pharmaceutical industries, shipbuilding and tourism.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president pointed to the current situation of the international oil market and said undoubtedly, cooperation among those members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with close stances can thwart certain powers’ plots and rise the oil price to an acceptable level in 2015.

Over the past six months, the oil prices have fallen about 50 percent due to a glut of supplies by certain countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Maduro, for his part, pointed to Iran-Venezuela close ties, and said his country is seeking to deepen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic in all spheres, area of economy and politics in particular.