TEHRAN -- The successful
experience of Iran and Venezuela has showed that resistance is the only way to counter American pressures, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei told visiting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro here Saturday.
Ayatollah Khamenei touched on the victory of the Venezuelan government and people in the hard struggle against the United States and the hybrid and all-out war waged against Caracas.
“The resistance of Your Excellency and the people of Venezuela is very valuable because it upgrades the dignity, standing and worthiness of a nation and country and its leaders, and today the U.S. view of Venezuela is different from the past,” the Leader said.
Ayatollah Khamenei also touched on the scientific and technological progress and initiatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran in recent years ,saying “these big strides have been taken in a situation where the heaviest and most unprecedented sanctions and pressures were being imposed on the Iranian nation, with the Americans themselves calling it ‘maximum pressure’.”
“The resistance of the Iranian people led to the failure of the maximum pressure policy, in a way that one of the leading political officials of the United States recently used the term ‘abject failure’ for it,” the Leader said, apparently referring to U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price’s remarks in January.
Speaking at a press briefing, Price said that the previous administration had left behind a “terrible set of options” including its escalations towards the Islamic Republic. “The maximum pressure campaign was an abject failure. Everything that it promised, the opposite ended up coming true,” Price said.
Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The conclusion that can be drawn from the resistance and success of the two nations of Iran and Venezuela is that the only cure in the face of pressures is to withstand and resist.”
The Leader said cooperation and communication between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Bolivarian government of Venezuela should be strengthened more than before.
He welcomed the signing of a 25-year cooperation roadmap earlier in the day, saying long-term cooperation requires following up on agreements and bringing them to fruition.
Ayatollah Khamenei also hailed sincere cooperation between Iran and Venezuela, saying the two countries do not have such close relations with any country.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has shown that it takes risks in times of danger and gives a helping hand to its friends.”
The Leader further praised Maduro’s anti-Zionist stances, saying: “Your Excellency’s recent stances against the Zionist regime were very sound and courageous.”
President Maduro thanked Iran for its support in Venezuela’s tough confrontation with the United States.
“You came to our aid and helped us get out of the very difficult situation Venezuela was in when no country was helping us,” he said.
Maduro detailed Venezuela’s difficult economic situation in recent years.
“As you said, the Americans started a gradual and multidimensional war against our country, but we