Iran-Venezuela trade volume can increase to $10 billion in 1st step, $20 billion in 2nd step: President Raisi

Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi praised the years of resistance of the Venezuelan people against imperialism and paid tribute to the national heroes of this country in a joint press conference with his Venezuelan counterpart on Monday evening local time, saying, "Iran and Venezuela have common interests and views in the fields of independence, freedom and justice, which has brought the people of these two countries closer together".

The President also stated that the people of Iran and Venezuela have common enemies who do not want us to live independently, and added, "The Iranian nation has proven its friendship with the Venezuelan people over the past years and has always shown that it is their friend during their difficult times".

Pointing out that the relations between Iran and Venezuela are not ordinary diplomatic relations, but strategic, Dr Raisi said, "Having common interests, views and enemies has made cooperation deep and strategic".

Stating that Iran and Venezuela have taken good steps in the past years to develop relations in economic, commercial, energy and technical and engineering services, the President clarified, "Today, the two countries are determined to develop relations in different fields".

Raisi further noted, "The Islamic Republic of Iran, thanks to the blessings of the Islamic Revolution, the pure blood of the martyrs, and the resistance of the Iranian people, has been able to turn the pressures and sanctions into opportunities, and in this way has provided various capacities that are ready to be shared with the resilient nation of Venezuela".

Describing the negotiations with his Venezuelan counterpart as useful and constructive in order to improve the level of relations between the two countries, the President said, "In the negotiations, both sides emphasised that despite the measures taken to develop relations, there is still a lot of capacity to expand cooperation".

Referring to the increase in the volume of trade between the two countries from $600 million in the Iranian year 1400 to more than $3 billion, Dr Raisi added, "The volume of trade can be increased to $10 billion in the first step and to $20 billion in the second step".

The President described the signing of 19 cooperation documents between the two countries in the fields of industry, mining, agriculture, energy, science and technology as a manifestation of the will of both sides to expand bilateral relations and stated, "I hope that by implementing these documents, we will be able to take a big step in improving the level of relations between the two countries".

At the end, Ayatollah Raisi once again paid tribute to the national heroes of Venezuela and honoured the memory and name of the resistance martyr Haj Qasem Soleimani and saluted his noble soul.

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Iran-Venezuela trade volume can increase to $10 billion in 1st step, $20 billion in 2nd step: President Raisi

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