Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed on Thursday to fight Western nations and “Zionism” alongside Venezuela’s socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Pezeshkian met with Maduro on the sidelines of the 16th annual gathering of the anti-U.S. BRICS group in Kazan, Russia. During his encounter with the Venezuelan dictator, Pezeshkian stated that the future belongs to those driven by “freedom, justice, and independence.”
The Iranian president availed himself of the opportunity to condemn Israel in relation to the death of Hamas “political” chief Ismail Haniyeh, who died in Tehran on July 30 after his lodgings exploded. Israel has not taken responsibility for the explosion that killed Haniyeh.
“Despite the Zionist regime’s intention to provoke the Islamic Republic of Iran into war, we exercised restraint in response to violations of Iran’s sovereignty, with the goal of advancing and concluding ceasefire negotiations [between Israel and Palestine],” Pezeshkian said. “However, this regime [Israel] has only become bolder in its crimes against innocent and defenseless women and children.”
“The Zionist regime commits the most heinous terrorist acts under the pretext of fighting terrorism,” he continued. “Is the definition of combating terrorism the massacre of tens of thousands of defenseless women and children?”
According to the Iran’s state Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Pezeshkian “noted that Iran showed restraint in face of the Israeli regime in order to facilitate progress in Gaza ceasefire talks,” and described Iran’s recent missile attack on Israel as part of “Iran’s legitimate right to self-defense.”
Venezuela’s Maduro, who traveled to Russia in a now-failed attempt to secure his regime a spot in BRICS, claimed that the war on Hamas is not limited to “Palestinian territories,” but that it reflects a “broader attempt by the Israeli regime to exert control globally,” likening it to “an octopus.”
“The actions of Americans and Westerners across various regions today reflect a troubling reproduction of neo-Nazi and neo-fascist dynamics, while Zionism embodies a resurgence of Nazism and fascism on the global stage,” Maduro said. “Today’s conflict involving the Zionists extends far beyond Palestinian territories; Zionism, much like an octopus, aims to exert control over the entire world.”
“Just as fascism and Nazism sought to distance themselves from the old international community, the Zionists are now attempting to circumvent the United Nations,” he continued. “Consequently, independent nations must unite now more than ever, as Americans and Westerners are merely engaged in deceptive diplomacy, showing no commitment to their promises or assurances.”
According to Venezuelan state media, Pezeshkian and Maduro reviewed agreements they signed and expressed to be in favor of increasing economic and commercial cooperation to $10 billion. Both countries signed in 2022 a broad 20-year cooperation agreement covering a multitude of areas, such as military, science, and industry.
“Our countries, Iran and Venezuela we have always maintained this unbreakable unity, we continue to give a message to the world with the giant steps towards the consolidation of the construction of the Multipolar World. We are a unitary bloc moving towards a geopolitics without colonialism or hegemonies!” Maduro said on Thursday on his official Telegram account.
The Venezuelan socialist regime is one of Iran’s top allies in the region, as the regimes share an aggressive anti-U.S. and anti-Israel stance.
It is also believed that the Maduro regime has allowed Iran’s proxy, the Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah, to establish bases in Venezuelan territory. Late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi described the Venezuelan-Iran relationship as a “strategic” one with “common interests, views,” and “enemies” during his visit to Caracas in June 2023.
Due to the collapse of socialism in Venezuela, the Maduro regime has increased its dependance on Iranian assistance — most notably in repairing and maintaining the nation’s rundown oil refineries after more than two decades of socialist mismanagement left them in a near-complete ruined state. According to reports, Iran began refining upwards of 100,000 barrels of its own oil in one of Venezuela’s refineries in late 2022.
Despite the claimed Iranian-made repairs and renovations, the worn-out state of Venezuelan oil refineries continues to cause recurrent oil spills that have done significant damage to Venezuela’s environment.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.