Iran Dismisses US Allegations on Cooperation with Venezuela
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson dismissed as baseless the allegations the US government has made regarding the cooperation between Tehran and Caracas.
In a statement on Friday, Seyed Abbas Mousavi disputed the claims made by a US government official in charge of Venezuela affairs, saying the baseless comments have been made in order to prepare the ground for mounting the US pressure on the Venezuelan government and for disrupting and interfering in the trade ties between Iran and Venezuela.
“The US government, whose policies in Venezuela, such as economic sanctions, military threats and, most recently, creation of a transitional council, have ended in failure due to the resistance of the Venezuelan government and people, is making such accusations in an attempt to obstruct the Venezuelan government’s plans for reviving that country’s refineries and producing oil products, including gasoline, a shortage of which has been caused by the cruel American sanctions,” Mousavi added.
The reaction came after Head of the US Department of State’s Venezuela Affairs Unit (VAU) James Story alleged at a live presentation on the Facebook that there is “a mysterious airlift between Venezuela and Iran.”
Story, who operates from Colombia, said on Thursday that Venezuela is sending out gold without any transparency, alleging that Iran is, in return, sending equipment for Venezuela’s national oil refining system so that Venezuelan refineries can start producing gasoline again.
