Venezuelan President To Visit Iran On Saturday For Key Talks

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is expected to pay an official two-day visit to Tehran to hold talks with senior Iranian officials.

Heading a political and business delegation, Maduro is due in Tehran on Saturday at the invitation of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

The Venezuelan president is scheduled to meet his Iranian counterpart and attend a session of high-level delegations from the two countries.

Iran and Venezuela have been slapped with sanctions by the US, which doesn’t currently import oil from either nation, and has in recent years reimposed sanctions on Iranian state entities, including the national oil company NIOC, and in 2019 blacklisted PDVSA.

The two countries strengthened their cooperation in 2020, with Venezuela importing condensate from Iran, key to thin its extra-thick crude oil. Iran has also stepped in to help its South American ally with engineers, refined products and spare parts for its oil industry.

Iran and Venezuela have also recently expanded a swap agreement signed last year to increase the supply of Iranian heavy crude to Venezuela's El Palito refinery and Paraguana Refining Center (CRP).

In early May, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji traveled to Venezuela to visit oil facilities and sign contracts in the energy sector.

Later in May, an oil tanker carrying about one million barrels of Iranian crude arrived in Venezuelan waters for delivery to the country's largest refinery.