Iran eyes stronger anti-US bloc as parliament speaker visits Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil
Iran is portraying the visit as a symbol of growing partnership with like-minded governments within Washington's traditional sphere of influence despite mounting Western pressure.
TEHRAN — Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, is on a Latin America tour, visiting Venezuela, Cuba and Brazil, and is set to attend the 11th Parliamentary Forum of the BRICS group of nations in Brasilia.
Ghalibaf was in Caracas on Monday, meeting President Nicolas Maduro, Parliament Speaker Jorge Rodriguez and Transport Minister Ramon Velasquez. During his discussions with Maduro, the Iranian parliament speaker highlighted the longstanding political and economic cooperation between Tehran and Caracas, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency.
In a symbolic gesture, he also presented Maduro with a sculpted bust of Qasem Soleimani, Iran's most powerful general, who was killed in a 2020 US drone attack in Baghdad.
Ghalibaf highlighted the shared anti-imperialist agenda in the foreign policies of the Islamic Republic and Venezuela's leftist government, emphasizing that the two countries must strengthen collaboration against their "common enemies." Separately, he told a group of Venezuelan students that the era of what he called "US hegemony" is over, as American dominance is "eroding from within."
