Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-Ravanchi stressed the significance of developing ties with Latin American countries, in particular those whose foreign policies were aligned with the Islamic Republic’s.
While noting the high level of political relations with ALBA countries, Takht-Ravanchi underlined the many opportunities for economic cooperation and expressed Iran’s readiness for expansion of relations and provision of technical assistance to remove obstacles.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran and the ALBA countries share similar positions in various fields; we can launch large-scale cooperation within the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) framework,” said Takht-Ravanchi.
Elsewhere, he touched upon the recent developments in the United States and Cuba relations, and assessed the imposition of ‘unilateral policies’ and ‘economic sanctions’ against countries ‘inefficient,’ and commended Cuba’s fifty years of resistance.
The ambassador to Nicaragua as the head of the ALBA delegation pointed to the alliance’s ten-year worth of accomplishments, expressing hope that the member countries would continue taking firm steps toward the unity and integration of Latin American countries.
Ambassadors of Venezuela, Cuba and Ecuador each called for expansion of bilateral ties.
The Venezuelan ambassador to Tehran maintained that the current situation in Iran and its economic development indicate the fact that the Western countries’ policy of imposing political pressures and sanctions has definitely failed.
ALBA, formally the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America is an intergovernmental organization comprising eleven member countries Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Grenada, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela.
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