MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Maduro's administration deepens cooperation ties with Iran

Venezuela has repeatedly turned to Iran amid sanctions from Western countries

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Islamic Republic of Iran have agreed to deepen their mutual cooperation in matters of science, education, technology, and energy security, the South American country's Minister of Science and Technology Gabriela Jiménez announced Sunday from Tehran.

“We are participating in the 9th meeting of the Iran-Venezuela High-Level Joint Committee. Science and technology are the priority areas for binational cooperation. Iran is a country with which we build strengths and we have a historical relationship of respect,” Jiménez explained.

“Our scientific agreements with Iran are part of a policy of mutual learning and construction of that other possible world, science for life,” she added.

As per bilateral agreements, both nations promote “the science of the territories, for welfare, sovereignty, and energy security” as Venezuela has repeatedly turned to Iran for help amid sanctions from Western countries.

The administration of President Nicolás Maduro also rejected this weekend the European Union's (EU) decision to extend for yet another year these unilateral measures.

“With this anachronistic decision it is intended to insist on a completely erroneous strategy, with which the EU has failed, in the last five years, to achieve its objective of overthrowing the Bolivarian Government nor to divert our people from the political course enshrined in our Constitution,” Caracas said in a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

The unilateral coercive measures “illegally applied by the European Union in a premeditated manner, punish and massively violate the human rights of the Venezuelan people,” since they “end up limiting access to food, medicines, primary supplies, machinery, spare parts, and equipment necessary to guarantee fundamental rights and ensure the normal development of our society,” the communiqué went on.

The Venezuelan government also highlighted the contrast between these measures published Friday and French President Emmanuel Macron's statements expressing his willingness to support negotiations between the Venezuelan government and the opposition.

“We repudiate the unhealthy policy of resorting to these tools of political blackmail, contrary to democratic and human rights principles, instituting a dangerous practice contrary to the principles of International Law and peaceful coexistence between States,” Maduro's administration also pointed out.

The Foreign Ministry insisted that the people and Government of Venezuela “will insist on continuing the defense of our sovereignty, based on our constitutional principles, reaffirming at all times our independence already conquered more than 200 years ago.”

The sanctions dating back to 2017 include the ban on 36 people from entering the EU, in addition to the freezing of their assets. It also entails an embargo on weapons and equipment.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Friday that his country denounced before the Geneva-based International Labor Organization (ILO) the damage caused by unilateral sanctions from the United States. “We have denounced in this multilateral space the harmful damage caused by the unilateral coercive measures imposed on our country and other nations, which practically reach the characteristics of genocide,” Labor Minister Francisco Torrealba said from Switzerland.

Torrealba stressed that these measures “must be eliminated and international law must be respected.”

(Source: Xinhua)