Iran’s new hardline president and the head of Nicaragua’s increasingly repressive leftist regime have pledged to work together to resist U.S. sanctions and defend “the national sovereignty of independent states and nations.”
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that President Ebrahim Raisi spoke by phone with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega Tuesday evening. The two men discussed joint ways to fight U.S. economic sanctions they face, the news agency said.
“The common views of the two Iranian and Nicaraguan nations against the U.S.’s excessive demands are a precious asset for interaction and convergence at the international arena for defending the national sovereignty of independent states and nations,” Mr. Raisi said during the conversation, according to the Iranian account.
The new Iranian leader, who took office early last month, also said Tehran is looking to expand ties to Latin American and Caribbean countries, despite concerns expressed by both the Trump and Biden administrations.
The U.S. said last month it had seized some 1.1 million barrels of Iranian fuel that were apparently destined for Venezuela, another leftist Latin American government facing U.S. economic sanctions.
Mr. Ortega, a onetime Sandinista rebel whose current tenure as president began a decade ago, is facing increasing criticism from Western governments and human rights groups as he cracks down on political opposition ahead of national elections on Nov. 7.
More than a half-dozen potential rivals to Mr. Ortega have been arrested or detained in recent months, along with a number of prominent critics of the president.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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