MANAGUA (Dispatches) -- In his first visit to Latin America, Iran’s president met with his Nicaraguan counterpart and hit out at U.S. sanctions on both countries.
President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Nicaragua is his second stop, after Venezuela. He is also scheduled to visit Cuba, Iran’s other ally in the region.
Raisi spoke at a joint appearance in Managua with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
“The United States wanted to paralyze our people with threats and sanctions, but it hasn’t been able to do it,” Raisi said.
On Monday, Raisi visited President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, which is also under U.S. economic sanctions, and the two sides signed 19 documents covering a variety of sectors, including communications and information technology, energy, insurance, maritime transport, higher education, agriculture, medicine, cultural exchanges, and mining.
Raisi said Iran and Venezuela can expand their bilateral trade volume in two phases, $10 billion in the first phase, and then expanding it to $20 billion, from around $3 billion at the moment.
In Managua, Raisi said the Iranian nation has succeeded in turning the United States’ sanctions and threats into opportunities.
“The U.S. sought to stop our nation through sanctions and threats, but not only our nation did not give in, it created an opportunity out of threats and sanctions and made progress,” he said.
Raisi said the Nicaraguan people’s resistance against excessive demands and hegemonic powers led to their victory, adding that the two nations share a common desire for independence, freedom and justice.
The Iranian president said Tehran and Managua enjoy “strategic” relations. He expressed the Islamic Republic’s readiness to improve mutual ties in various sectors, particularly science and technology.
Ortega, for his part, said the Iranian and Nicaraguan revolutions have deep roots in the fight against the dominance of arrogant powers, especially the United States.
He said imperial powers intrinsically seek to dominate other countries, and they exert pressure on independent countries under the pretext of human rights and democracy.
The independent nations, however, continue to firmly stand up to them, he added.
In a Wednesday post on his Twitter account, Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said part of the Iranian administration’s “balanced foreign policy” is to take into consideration the capacities of Latin American countries.
He said the positive records of political solidarity between Tehran and Managua in international organizations can expedite the development of bilateral cooperation.
On Tuesday, President Raisi rebuked the West for seeking to dominate the world, saying the only way to confront the enemy is through resistance and steadfastness.
“This mentality is completely wrong that by surrendering to the enemy, it will retreat. We should not give in to an enemy that intends to plunder the entire material and spiritual interests of the nations,” he told Venezuela’s university students at the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex in Caracas.
“The Iranian nation’s experience has shown that the only way to confront the enemy is to stand up and resist,” he added.
Raisi said the current international order is the order that favors imperialism and only seeks dominance over the people.
“What they demand is that we ... sell our natural resources, and grant them to whoever they want, but not for the benefit of our own peoples.”
Raisi said, “We will resist until a new international order is established.”
He said, “We have been with the Venezuelan people in difficult days and we will stay together.”
He said independent countries are coming to the fore, while imperialism is in decline.
“This means a great future for the peoples of Iran, Venezuela, and other sovereign countries.”