Iran oil minister Javad Owji is making a trip to Venezuela that includes visiting oil facilities and signing energy deals between the two countries.

The Iranian delegation has already visited the Paraguana Refinery Complex in western Venezuela, meeting with Petroleos de Venezuela SA head Asdrubal Chavez, with whom Owji is set to sign energy cooperation deals on Monday, Bloomberg reported.

The two nations have been subjected to harsh, unilateral US sanctions. Washington did not even lift its sanctions during the pandemic, terribly affecting Tehran and Caracas’ ability to combat COVID-19.

Iran and Venezuela have been upping their cooperation in light of unjust US sanctions on the two countries, with Venezuela importing condensate from Iran, which is highly important in the oil refining process, as it is used to dilute heavy crude oil into an exportable blend.

Source: Iranian media (edited by Al-Manar English Website)