TEHRAN - The growing cooperation between Iran and Cuba is a source of hope for independent nations and a cause of frustration for imperialists, President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran said on Thursday.

“Our cooperation in the path to progress can create hope in independent nations and despair in imperialists,” Raisi told a joint meeting of the senior delegations of Iran and Cuba in Havana, Press TV reported.

Raisi visited Havana on Wednesday evening local time as the final leg of his tour of Latin America that first took him to Venezuela and Nicaragua. He was accompanied by a high-ranking team, including the ministers of foreign affairs, defense and health.

In the joint meeting, the president went on to say that the U.S. and other hegemons are powerless in the face of independent nations.

Raisi also suggested establishment of a joint commission on technological cooperation between the two countries.

He also praised Cuba's resilient and steadfast people and their national heroes and honored the memory of all those who sacrificed their lives for the independence and freedom of the country.

Raisi said ties between Tehran and Havana have improved significantly since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, saying, “In the years following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the relations between the two countries have been enhancing, and constructive mutual cooperation has taken place in recent years and especially during the coronavirus pandemic.”

He stated that Iran and Cuba have substantial common grounds, such as the struggle for independence.

Raisi then referred to the resistance of the Iranian nation against sanctions and the U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign, saying, “Iran considers relations with independent countries as one of the ways to counter sanctions.”

The president expressed hope that mutual visits in the near future could effectively help develop relations between the two countries, adding that activating the joint commission of economic cooperation can provide faster solutions for implementing the agreements already signed between the two sides.

 ‘Common values and views’

For his part, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel hailed Raisi’s visit as "meaningful" and a sign of "common values and views" between the two states.

“The three countries that you chose as the destination for your regional trip have a meaningful relationship with the Iranian Revolution. I am confident that your visit to Cuba will be a turning point in the history of relations between the two countries,” he said.

Cuban president to visit Iran

Diaz-Canel also said he will surely make a trip to Tehran by the end of the current year, which ends on March 20.

The visit had been scheduled years ago but it was postponed due to certain problems, including the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Cuban leader added his country will continue political dialogue with Tehran more actively.

Upon his arrival in Havana, Raisi was warmly welcomed by President Diaz-Canel. They held private talks after the welcoming ceremony.

Six cooperation documents and memorandums of understanding were signed between the senior officials of Iran and Cuba at the presence or Raisi and Diaz-Canel.

The cooperation agreements are in areas of comprehensive political cooperation, customs, digital communication, etc.

Amir Abdollahian said on Thursday that Iran and Cuba are among the pioneers of convergence in their own region.

"Iran and Cuba are among the pioneers in the development of regional convergence that can provide the opportunity for each other’s presence in coalitions formed on both sides of the globe,” Amir Abdollahian wrote on his Twitter account.

“Iran and Cuba are among the pioneers in the development of regional convergence that can provide the opportunity for each other’s presence in coalitions formed on both sides of the globe,” he wrote on his Twitter account, according to Press TV.

Amir Abdollahian also said the two countries can cooperate in many fields, including biotechnology, medicine and nuclear energy.

Before starting his tour of Latin America, Raisi said Iran, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba oppose hegemony and unilateralism in the world.

Raisi holds talks with Raul Castro

Also, in a meeting in Havana with Raul Castro, Cuba’s spiritual leader and former president on Thursday afternoon (local time), Raisi said “political relationship” between Iran and Cuba is at its best shape and this necessitates to promote relations in other areas, including economy, technology, biotechnology, medicine, pharmaceuticals, and production of vaccines.

Raisi also praised the resilience and spirit of the Cuban nation and people in the face of six decades of the U.S. unfair and unilateral sanctions, saying these long years of sanctions against Cuba are a widespread violation of human rights.

These sanctions have been slapped by the U.S. which claims it is a defender of human rights, Raisi regretted.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Raisi stressed the need for “unity and co-thinking” among like-minded nations in the face of arrogant countries, especially as the world is transitioning from a unipolar to a multilateral system.

For his part, Raul Castro, lauded the revolutionary struggle of the Iranian nation and their 44-year resistance against the bullying of arrogant countries, including the U.S.

Castro also said unilateralism has come to an end in the world and “we are moving toward multilateralism.”

Raul Castro, 92, also pointed to memories of himself and his late brother Fidel Castro against U.S. imperialism.

Raul Castro is a retired politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the country, from 2011 to 2021, and president of Cuba between 2008 and 2018, succeeding his brother Fidel Castro.

The Iranian president started his tour of three Latin American states on Monday morning. He departed Havana for Tehran on Thursday evening local time.

“Visits intended to meet national and economic interests”

Upon his return from tour of Latin America, Raisi told reporters in Mehrabad airport that his administration follows a “balanced” foreign policy in regard to the East and the West.

He also said Latin America is gifted with abundant natural resources and talented persons and that people in this part of the world have been struggling against hegemons for long years.

The president went on to say that any steps or foreign visits by the government are intended to meet the country’s “national and economic interests”.