21 de diciembre 2022
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Denis Moncada, Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister, affirmed on December 19 that his country would continue confronting US domination together with their “brother” country Iran, where he was holding an official visit.
“Iran and Nicaragua are friends and brothers. We’ll resist domination and we’ll win,” declared Moncada during the Teheran forum. He had arrived in the Middle Eastern nation on December 18, on a mission to develop closer relations with Iran.
The head of Nicaraguan diplomacy accused the United States of endangering international peace with “its violations of international rights,” and of trying to provoke a third world war with the conflict in Ukraine.
In the face of US “domination,” Moncada praised the Iranian policies that “emphasize international rights and the development of relationships based on trust.”
“We believe in the construction of a better world, one that is multi-polar and inclusive, based on respect for countries. We raise the flags of fairness for the good of humanity,” he assured.
Moncada held a meeting with Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iran’s Foreign Minister. During their encounter, the two ministers signed a series of agreements to strengthen relations between the two countries.
The Nicaraguan Foreign Minister’s visit took place amid massive protests that have shaken Iran since September, when a young woman named Mahsa Amini died in police custody, after being detained by Iran’s Morality Police for not wearing the Islamic veil correctly.
More than 400 people have died in the course of the subsequent protests, thousands have been arrested, and two protestors have been executed for participating in demonstrations demanding an end to the Islamic Republic, which was founded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979.
Iran promised Nicaragua to “neutralize the sanctions”
The current visit to forge closer ties represents yet another attempt on the part of the Ortega regime to solidify some kind of cooperation agreement. In May of this year, Iran’s Oil Minister, Javad Owji, headed a visit to Nicaragua from a high level Iranian commission. At that time, Owji committed to supplying the country with petroleum derivatives, and assured Daniel Ortega that “together” they can “neutralize the aggressions and sanctions.”
“We roundly condemn the unjust aggressions of some powers and their intervention in Nicaragua’s internal affairs,” the Iranian Minister stressed at that time. He declared that they were “friends and brothers” of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, three powers the United States considers hostile, and that the international community has accused of perpetrating human rights violations.
During that official May visit, Owji and Ortega signed memorandums of understanding and, presumably, contracts regarding petroleum and agriculture. However, the details and official documents of these agreements are still unknown.
At that time Owji promised to study the possibility of investing in the failed refinery project called “Bolivar’s Supreme Dream.” The refinery was a 4-billion-dollar project conceived in 2007 by Hugo Chavez, then president of Venezuela, but which was later reduced in scope to a storage tank system that cost 510 million dollars.
This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times
