Iran and Venezuela sign a 20-year agreement



Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolas Maduro and Iran’s hardline theocratic president Ebrahim Raisi recently signed a 20-year cooperation agreement.

The Associated Press reported that this new agreement came just one day after Maduro praised the Iranian Islamic Republic for sending badly needed fuel to Venezuela despite American sanctions.

In an interview with Maduro after he arrived for a two-day visit in Tehran, Iranian state media reported that Maduro heaped praise upon Iran’s efforts to send fuel tankers in support of his country.

Maduro said, “Tehran’s delivery of oil to Caracas was a great help to the Venezuelan people.”

Maduro’s visit to Iran comes as tensions heighten across the Middle East as negotiations over Iran’s nuclear deal fell apart and as U.S. sanctions and rising global food prices choke Iran’s suffering economy. This was Maduro’s first visit to Iran.

A high-ranking delegation from Venezuela comprised of political and economic officials joined Maduro on his visit to Iran after receiving an invitation from Raisi. Venezuela, like Iran, is under heavy sanctions from the U.S., which hinder its economic growth.

In a joint press conference on Saturday, Raisi and Maduro signed the 20-year agreement that solidified the country’s commitment to economic, political, and militaristic cooperation.

The Iranian English-language network, PressTV, quoted statements made by Maduro before the press conference indicating that the Venezuelan president and Raisi would discuss “the need to well inform the Iranian and Venezuelan nations about the war of sanctions and find ways to counter them with steadfastness.”

Maduro reportedly said that Venezuela and Iran are united by “a common vision.” The two presidents are aligned on international issues, and both have suffered economic difficulties, which are said to be caused by sanctions from America and its allies.

Maduro said, “Caracas and Tehran have shaped the strategy of [a] resistance economy and are working to expand it.”

On his website, Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader of Iran, said that the experiences of Venezuela and Iran showed that the only way to face pressures from the U.S. is “to resist.” Khamenei thanked Maduro and the people of Venezuela for resisting American pressure.

Khamenei said, “Today, the United States views Venezuela differently.”

Maduro’s visit to Iran comes as he embarks on an individual Eurasian tour after President Joe Biden decided not to invite him to the Summit of the Americas which began this past week. Maduro’s stops will also include Algeria and Turkey.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard claims responsibility for missile barrage in Irbil, says it responded to crimes from the 'Zionist regime'



The Iranian government has claimed responsibility for a recent missile barrage that targeted the expansive U.S. consulate complex in the Iraqi city of Irbil – also spelled Erbil.

There are no reported American fatalities, according to the Associated Press, but the attack marks a significant escalation between the U.S. and Iran.

The Iranian Revolutionary guard said that it launched the attack against an Israeli “strategic center of conspiracy” in Irbil.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard said that Israel recently acted offensively by planning a recent strike that killed two members of the Revolutionary Guard which prompted an Iranian response.

“Following the recent crimes of the fake Zionist regime and the previous announcement that the crimes and evils of this infamous regime will not go unanswered; Last night, the ‘Strategic Center of Conspiracy and Evil of the Zionists’ was targeted by powerful and point-to-point missiles of the IRGC,” the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said in a statement following the attack.

An American defense official and an Iraqi security official confirmed that the strike was launched from Iran.

An Iraqi official in Baghdad initially said that several missiles had struck the U.S. consulate in Ibril and that the consulate was the target of the attack.

However, Lawk Ghafari, the head of the Kurdish foreign media office, said that none of the missiles struck the U.S. facility but that areas around the sprawling complex had been hit.

The U.S. defense official said it was unclear how many missiles were fired and what the precise area of impact was. A second U.S. official said that there was no damage at any building belonging to the U.S. government and that there is no clear indication that the target was the consulate complex.

The barrage came several days after the Iranian government said that it would retaliate for an earlier Israeli attack outside of Damascus, Syria, that resulted in the deaths of two members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The attack also coincided with increasing regional tensions.

Negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials over the Iran nuclear deal have been paused in response to Russian complaints over Western sanctions stemming from the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian diplomats have been serving as meditators during the negotiations.

Iranian officials also suspended the ongoing secret Baghdad talks that were aimed at defusing longstanding tensions with its rivals in Saudi Arabia.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi responded to the attack by tweeting: “The aggression which targeted the dear city of Erbil and spread fear amongst its inhabitants is an attack on the security of our people. I discussed these developments with the KRG PM. Our security forces will investigate and stand firm against any threats toward our people.”