President Embarks on Latin America Tour

President Ebrahim Raisi was to depart for a Latin American tour on Sunday to improve relations with “like-minded and friendly states.”
Accompanied by a delegation including the ministers of foreign affairs, oil and health, Raisi is scheduled to sign several agreements on political, trade, industrial and scientific cooperation with Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, according to IRNA. 
The Islamic Republic’s growing tendency toward Latin America dates back to the tenure of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013). Known for his anti-western stances, the former president relentlessly pursued partnerships with Latin American states, promoting the notion of expanding Iran’s influence in “America’s backyard” to curtail the influence of its arch-foe.
A slew of US sanctions slapped on the Islamic Republic and those three states in recent years has created even greater common ground. Iran and Venezuela signed a 20-year partnership agreement last July, when President Nicolas Maduro visited Tehran and was lauded by Raisi for his resistance against “imperialistic sanctions and pressure.”
During that visit, the two oil-rich nations clinched energy deals in which Iran committed to developing Venezuelan oil refineries among other projects.
As Iran’s sympathy with the “anti-imperialist” agenda of those states has grown, they have returned the favor in part with their pro-Tehran votes in international bodies.
In Cuba, apart from bilateral trade, the two sanctions-hit countries are planning to close major deals in medical sciences and health care. Such cooperation ramped up during the coronavirus pandemic. The leading Iranian research center, Pasteur Institute, entered a joint venture with Cuba’s Finlay Institute to produce a Covid-19 vaccine known in Iran as PastoCovac.
In recent years Iran has also been increasingly warming ties with Nicaragua. Only in February, President Daniel Ortega openly defended Tehran’s nuclear activities as he received Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in the capital Managua.
During the same trip, Amir-Abdollahian signed a memorandum of understanding with his Nicaraguan counterpart, Denis Moncada, a topic expected to be pursued by the Iranian delegation in the upcoming visit.