Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/18/leaders-of-iran-and-venezuela-to-sign-20-year-cooperation-accord
President Nicolas Maduro has set plans to visit Tehran, the capital of Iran, in the next few months where he will sign a 20-year cooperation accord which will create an economic cooperation committee between the two countries. These plans are announced shortly after Venezuela sent two million barrels of oil to Iran after Iran sent 2.1 million barrels of condensate, an oil by-product used in fuel production, to Venezuela.
This cooperation is also a sign of defiance to the United States as Iranian ministers have condemned the US treatment of Venezuela as “unconstructive”. Iran and Venezuela are both seeking to ally themselves with other countries under US intervention and sanctions as Iran has allied itself with China and potentially Russia and Venezuela has allied with other Marxist countries.
This cooperation accord is definitely a signifier to the US of its “enemies” allying to fight its intervention however, it’s not something new for US “enemies” to ally and this alliance will do little to none to lift sanctions on Venezuela. Venezuela’s economy is in shambles with hyper-inflation and no trust in the Venezuelan Bolivar therefore, much more will need to be done to lift the country into enough economic prosperity to fight off US sanctions. However, this does raise some concern for the US because of the prospect of European and Asian nations becoming increasingly involved in the Western Hemisphere. If countries like Iran can be closely linked with countries in South America, what is stopping much stronger nations like China from establishing stronger relations with countries who aren’t friendly to the United States? However, it’s highly unlikely for China to start putting military bases in South America anywhere in the near future.
As discussed in class, the only goal for every country, from a Realist perspective, is safety and security through economic power. Venezuela and Iran therefore, will both work in a rational way to help strengthen their economy, and trade agreements are a common and relatively successful way for a country to strengthen its economy. Secondly, countries want safety and security which will often be done through allying with other countries. In the current uni-polar system, countries can either ally with the United States, stay relatively neutral in foreign affairs, or join with other countries trying to topple the United States hegemony. Since Iran and Venezuela both fall under the category of countries threatened by the United States and seeking to defend themselves against its power it is rational for them to ditch religious tension or ideological disagreements and ally to protect themselves.