Iranian President Ebrahim Raissi indirectly criticized Western countries during his visit to Nicaragua on Wednesday June 14. The Managua regime is also under US and European sanctions, due to the ongoing repression of demonstrations against its leader.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi pledged to deepen ties between Managua and Tehran on a visit to Nicaragua Wednesday as part of a tour of Latin American countries under US sanctions.
The Iranian leader, whose country is also sanctioned by the United States, kicked off his trip in Venezuela earlier this week before flying to Nicaragua. He is also due to visit Cuba.
Raisi added that Iran and the Central American country “share a common history of struggle, of resistance, of revolutions, of combat against a common enemy.”
Daniel Ortega was re-elected in November 2021 for his fourth consecutive term at the end of a vote from which all of his opponents, who had been arrested or forced into exile, were absent. He had denounced as a coup attempt the demonstrations demanding his departure in 2018, which were severely repressed and left over 350 people dead.
Over the past four years, the European Union and the United States have imposed numerous sanctions on Nicaragua and leading figures.
Deepening trade and exchange was also on the agenda in Nicaragua.
Ortega has said Tehran has a right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and in February questioned the moral authority of Western powers to ban Iran from having nuclear weapons.
Malo Pinatel, avec AFP
