"I received His Excellency Javad Owji, Minister of Petroleum of the sister Islamic Republic of Iran. A productive meeting to deepen ties of brotherhood and cooperation in energy," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro tweeted, without give details.
Mr. Owji spoke with his Venezuelan counterpart Tareck El Aissami, who posted a video on his Instagram account on Monday showing him receiving his host in his office.
"Javad, my brother. How are you? What a pleasure to have you here," said the Venezuelan minister, shaking hands with his Iranian counterpart.
The visit has "the objective of deepening the mechanisms of bilateral cooperation" and "the construction of ways and mechanisms to overcome the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the government of the United States and its allies", specified in a press release the Venezuelan ministry. petrol.
Bilateral relations between the two oil-producing countries grew closer with the coming to power of socialist leader Hugo Chavez (1999-2013) and were further strengthened under the presidency of his successor, Mr. Maduro who, in addition to Iran , relies on its Russian and Chinese allies.
They have become even tighter after sanctions imposed by Washington on oil exports from Iran and Venezuela and on several members of power in both countries.
In 2020, during major fuel shortages in Venezuela due to a sharp drop in crude production, Caracas had received from Tehran two ships loaded with fuels and derivatives to solve the crisis.
At the end of 2020, during a visit to Caracas, the head of Iranian diplomacy Mohammad Javad Zarif assured that his country would remain "at the side" of Venezuela.
© 2022 AFP