Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he would visit Iran shortly to sign cooperation agreements in energy and other sectors.

In a state TV address on Monday, he underscored that he is “obliged to go to personally thank the people [of Iran]”, who earlier sent a flotilla of fuel tankers to the South American country.

Iran has sent five tankers loaded with 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and alkylate to Venezuela to help jump-start the oil refineries in the Latin American state amid a fuel crisis.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a message termed the shipment of Iranian fuel to Venezuela as a sign of Tehran-Caracas solidarity.

Earlier on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said that Tehran will continue to export fuel to Venezuela if the country requests more supplies.

“Iran practices its free trade rights with Venezuela and we are ready to send more ships if Caracas demands more supplies from Iran,” Mousavi told a weekly news conference on Monday.

Both Iran and Venezuela are under US sanctions and Washington has sought to deter such shipments.

Source: Agencies