Iran's Raisi Tells Ministers To Implement Deals He Signed In Latin America

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi told his cabinet ministers not to overlook the implementation of 35 agreements he signed during his tour of three Latin American countries this week.

The government’s official news website IRNA in a long report Saturday highlighted Raisi’s trip to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, with the headline of “35 cooperation agreements signed under America’s nose.”

Iranian officials and government media have been emphasizing the significance of the three-nation tour as a challenge to the US “in America’s backyard.”

However, Iran is in relative international isolation as no Western countries and allies invite Iranian leaders or visit the country themselves. The three Latin American countries Raisi visited are also struggling economically under US sanctions and leftist ideological rule.

Raisi emphasized during his trip solidarity against the United States and cooperation to overcome sanctions.

During his meeting with Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel Raisi said, "The conditions and circumstances in which Cuba and Iran find themselves today have many things in common. Every day our relations grow stronger."

The Cuban president also praised close ties with Iran. "Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Iran are among the countries that have had to heroically confront sanctions...threats, blockades and interference by Yankee imperialism and its allies with a tenacious resistance, This visit reinforced our conviction that we have in Iran a friendly nation in the Middle East, with which to confide...and talk about the most complex global issues."

However, there is little in economic cooperation and trade the three countries can achieve with Iran, which faces a serious economic crisis, with by 70-percent inflation and a battered currency.