“I see Iran’s relations with Latin America not only from the perspective of bilateral relations, but also as a continuation of the Russia-China bloc in which Iran is involved through its policy of looking East.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi concluded a three-country tour of Latin America “to strengthen political and economic ties with partner countries that stand against Western domination”. The official visit started in Venezuela, continued in Nicaragua and ended in Cuba, where several agreements were signed in the fields of economy, health and defense.
“We have common interests, common visions and common enemies,” the Iranian leader said during a meeting with his counterpart Nicolas Maduro in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. On Wednesday, Raisi met with President Daniel Ortega in the Nicaraguan capital Managua, stressing that the two countries “share a history of struggle, resistance, and revolutions against a common enemy.”
Maria Elvira Salazar, Chair of the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere (Americas), blamed the Biden administration for Raisi’s Latin American tour. “Raisi’s visits in plain defiance of the United States demonstrates the failure of the Administration’s Latin America policy,” Salazar told Fox.
Emanuele Ottolenghi of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said Raisi’s main goal is “to erode US influence in the Western Hemisphere and challenge the US in its own backyard.” Reminding that Reisi challenges US dominance and subscribes to the notion of a multipolar world, Ottolenghi said, “That involves, of course, reducing US influence for the benefit of rival powers such as Russia and China.”
Harici asked Bilgehan Alagöz, a faculty member at Marmara University and senior expert at the Center for Iranian Studies (IRAM), about the course of Iran-Latin America relations from past to present and where Raisi’s visit fits in the global balance of power:
“Bilateral relations that started in the 1960s have regained momentum”
Is it a coincidence that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi started his visit to Latin America in Venezuela, a country that, like his own, has suffered from US sanctions? Do relations between Iran and Venezuela have a long history?
Iranian-Venezuelan relations have a historical depth. These two countries took part together in the establishment of OPEC in the 1960s. Therefore, they had close relations at that time. However, the intensity of these relations did not continue in the following periods. During the this regime, Iran and Venezuela did not have close relations until the Ahmadinejad era. During this period, Iranian-Venezuelan relations gained momentum in the process that started when Iran came under intense pressure from the international community, especially from the US. Both countries reached a consensus on anti-imperialist and nationalist discourses. At this point, we know that in 2011, Iran pioneered the establishment of Hispan TV, which broadcasts in Spanish. This TV channel has three partners. One is the Iranian state television IRIB, the second is Cuban Radio Television and the third is the Venezuelan news channel Telasur. We see that Hispan TV carries out an anti-US broadcasting policy in response to CNN’s Spanish-language channel. There is an effort to build soft power here.
Coming up to the present day, there has been an intense US sanction on Iran since 2018. Venezuela is also undergoing a similar process. Accordingly, the two countries signed a strategic agreement in September 2021. The content was as follows: Iran will supply Venezuela with the gas condensate needed to dilute Venezuelan heavy crude oil. In return, Iran will buy Venezuela’s heavy crude oil. This exchange will be in gold, since the dollar is banned because both countries are excluded from the international banking system and cannot use US dollars. Therefore, the trade in gold bars began. The next step came this time last year with Maduro’s visit to Iran. The two countries signed a 20-year agreement.
Iran has a similar strategic agreement with Russia and China. In this sense, it is noteworthy that the strategic partnership with Venezuela comes after these two countries. Considering all these, it is possible to say that it is not a coincidence that Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi started his visit to Latin America in Venezuela, and that it is a continuation of the strategic cooperation that has developed in recent years.
“Cuban-Iranian relations date back to 1979”
Following Raisi’s visit, are there adequate opportunities for Iran to develop its political and economic relations with countries in this continent, particularly Venezuela and Cuba? What are the possible areas of cooperation?
Raisi’s visit to Nicaragua and Cuba after Venezuela is by no means a coincidence. When we look at Iranian-Nicaraguan relations, we see that they started to grow stronger in the 2000s. In fact, in the 90s, there was a very high level of tension between the two countries. The two countries withdrew their ambassadors after Iran was held responsible for some unsolved murders in Nicaragua. However, a new chapter was opened in 2007 when Ahmadinejad visited the country. During that visit, construction of a port in Iran was guaranteed. Ahmadinejad attached great importance to this at the time. However, his successor Hassan Rouhani did not visit this country. Reisi’s visit is the first since 2007. It is also worth remembering that last year the Iranian Petroleum Minister signed a series of agreements with Nicaragua.
As for Cuba, relations between the two countries can be traced back to 1979. At that time, Cuban President Castro was very sympathetic to the Iranian revolution. However, since he also had close relations with Iraq, he felt the need to distance himself from Iran. We had seen a cautious Cuba during the Iran-Iraq war. But under Khatami, the volume of trade between the two countries began to expand. There were some loan agreements and in 2001 Castro traveled to Iran for the first time. Since then, Iran and Cuba have maintained close relations.
“Defense agreements with Venezuela are remarkable”
When we look at the Iranian delegation accompanying Raisi on his visit to Latin America, we see the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Petroleum, Defense and Health. Agreements were made on the basis of the issues under the responsibility of these ministers. It is especially noteworthy that some defense agreements with Venezuela came to the agenda. Likewise, petroleum agreements between the two countries are important. There are some agreements with Nicaragua and Cuba, mostly on trade and health. Therefore, even though there is a great limitation due to economic sanctions, the problems that each country has with the US are pushing these countries to create new opportunities. We can say that these opportunities are mostly focused on defense, health and petroleum. Venezuela also has a plan to use the Chinese yuan in trade, although this has not yet been finalized, so Iran and Venezuela are moving increasingly closer to a common perspective.
“Reminiscent of the Cuban Crisis of the Cold War”
Relations between Iran and Latin America gained momentum under Ahmadinejad, but following the nuclear negotiations, Tehran’s interest in these countries waned. What are the reasons for Tehran to revitalize relations today?
The 2015 nuclear deal was very important for Iranian foreign policy. For the first time since the 1979 revolution, there was the prospect of engagement with the international community. However, in 2018, US President Trump decided to withdraw from the deal and hardened his policy towards Iran. This development prompted Iran to search for new options. We see that the most important effort in this regard is to move relations with global actors, Russia and China, to a more strategic scale. Iran is not content with this. By developing a dialog and strategy with Latin America, Iran is both gaining more leverage against the United States and reacting to changing conditions. Therefore, Iran’s relations with Latin America should not only be evaluated in terms of Iranian foreign policy, but also in terms of Iran’s strategic relations with Russia and China and its message to the United States, because in the eyes of the global actors, Russia and China, the importance of Latin American countries started to increase. It was noteworthy that China, Russia and Iran participated in the military drills in Venezuela last year. In a way, this is reminiscent of the Cuban Crisis of the Cold War era.
Therefore, I see Iran’s relations with Latin America not only from the perspective of bilateral relations, but also as a continuation of the Russia-China bloc in which Iran is involved through its policy of looking East. Here, the East no longer represents a geography but an ideological differentiation. Therefore, we can now include Venezuela and Cuba in this East.
“The US is closely watching but not reacting for now”
What does the development of Iranian-Latin American relations mean for the US?
The US is, of course, closely following this visit. Indeed, a report published by the Pentagon in 2010 claims to have detected the presence of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Venezuela. In other words, the US has been watching the relations between the two countries carefully since then. Last year, the Israeli Defense Minister made a statement that Iran was sending armed drones to Venezuela. We see that the US also adopts this perspective. Therefore, for the US, Iranian efforts to penetrate Latin America, especially through military agreements, are a source of uneasiness. Because Iran is not only considered as Iran here. Iran is considered to be acting as a physical power on behalf of Russia and especially China. In other words, the US believes that Iran, under the influence of Russia and China, has access to Latin America. However, it is not reacting very actively at the moment because there is an unspecified agreement in place between Iran and the United States. They do not call it the revitalization of the nuclear deal, but there is a de facto agreement process and they are not reacting openly in order not to damage diplomacy. But as I said, Iran’s relations with Russia and China and the military cooperation under their influence that Iran is trying to create in Latin America are closely monitored by the US.
