Dr. Raz Zimmt

ACIS Iran Pulse No. 113 | June 21, 2023

In mid-June of 2023, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi embarked on an official tour of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. These visits gave rise to collaboration agreements and understandings between Iran and the three nations on a diverse range of issues, including agriculture, energy, communications, information technology, marine transportation, higher education, and culture. During a press conference with Venezuelan President Nicholás Maduro, President Raisi announced that the two countries had decided to increase the volume of mutual trade from 3 to 20 billion dollars per year. He emphasized that the relationship between Tehran and Caracas was not limited to low-scale diplomacy but rather was of strategic nature (Tasnim). President Raisi's arrival in Venezuela occurred exactly one year after his counterpart's visit to Tehran, during which both countries signed a 20-year cooperation agreement in the fields of oil, petrochemicals, defense, agriculture, and culture (Reuters).

President Raisi's visit to Latin America rekindles the issue of warming relations between Iran and certain Latin American countries controlled by Neo-Marxist regimes that have adopted a radical leftist ideology. At first glance, there seems to be no common ideological denominator uniting the predominantly Catholic radical socialist regimes in Latin America and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is based on revolutionary Shi'ite Islam. However, for over twenty years, the shared animosity between Iran and certain Latin American nations towards the United States and American hegemony has been the foundation of these growing relations. During his presidency (2005-1997), Mohammad Khatami visited Venezuela three times and considered cooperation on oil-related issues between the two nations a central matter worth promoting. This cooperation aimed to ensure that OPEC members were producing oil according to quotas in order to protect the interests of all petroleum-exporting countries.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rise to power in 2005 marked a significant tightening of relations between the two nations. Ahmadinejad sought to change previous government policies that focused on mitigating international tensions and instead pursued a vision centered on a new world order. He believed that the global order established since World War II, which was led by the United States, needed to be dismantled to rectify a historical injustice. This belief aligned with the revolutionary views of then Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, hastening the formation of a strategic bond between the two countries. This bond was not only based on the mutual recognition of shared political and economic interests but also on a radical ideological partnership. It resulted in the development of a common discourse between Chavez's socialism and Ahmadinejad's Messianic Shi'ite Islam. Both presidents aimed to establish a revolutionary axis that would challenge the United States' supremacy.

In his first two years as President, Ahmadinejad visited Venezuela twice, while Chavez, one of the prominent representatives of the rising left in Latin America at the time, visited Iran three times and received a warm welcome from Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, a privilege reserved only for Iran's closest allies (Iranian Leader's Website). During a joint press conference in Tehran in July 2007, Ahmadinejad highlighted the similarities between the Islamic Revolution and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. He saw both revolutions as carrying messages of hope and brotherhood to all nations, emphasizing the need for strong opposition to the power of the United States (IRNA). During a visit to Venezuela in January 2007, Ahmadinejad expressed the commitment of both countries to promoting revolutionary ideas worldwide and held global superpowers and their inadequate management responsible for global problems (Deutsche Welle). On a visit to Nicaragua in 2007 following Daniel Ortega's victory in the presidential election, Ahmadinejad stated that the two countries shared interests, goals, and a common enemy—the United States (Reuters).

When emphasizing the radical ideology shared by Iran and Latin America's Neo-Marxist regimes, Ahmadinejad could not overlook the disparities between secular socialism and revolutionary Islam. Although he generally avoided explicitly mentioning the religious differences between the countries, some of his statements indirectly alluded to these contrasts. In a condolence letter following Chavez's death, Ahmadinejad portrayed him as a man of faith, a revolutionary who championed justice and remained devoted to human and divine values, following in the footsteps of prophets. He referred to the former Venezuelan president as a shahid and expressed his conviction that on the day of Redemption, Chavez would stand alongside the Mahdi, Jesus, and other "righteous men" (Khabar Online).

Other senior Iranian officials have also made efforts to bridge the gap between the socialist Left in Latin America and Iran's revolutionary Islam. For instance, former Iranian Ambassador to Venezuela, Ahmad Sobhani, stated that Chavez considered himself a devout Catholic and that the new Left in Latin America embraced a patriotic approach that did not contradict religion (Kayhan, March 4, 2007). Conservative journalists in Iran have also highlighted the shared ideological foundation between Iran and the Latin American Left. An article in the daily newspaper Siyasat-e Rooz emphasized that Latin America held great strategic importance in establishing an international front of oppressed nations against the Western capitalist order. The conservative newspaper argued that stronger relations with Latin American nations were even more significant than unity among Muslim countries, and the concept of justice, embraced by Iran and some Latin American nations, could serve as the basis for "the destruction of the materialistic invasive Western empire" (Siyasat-e Rooz, January 18, 2007). An editorial published in Resalat in 2007 titled "Showing up in America's Backyard," in reference to Ahmadinejad's visit to Latin America, stated that the Presidents of Latin America were welcoming the Iranian President and expressing their shared hopes of opposing new imperialism and colonialism (Resalat, January 16, 2007).

Despite the efforts of Iranian leadership and conservative media to depict the relations between Iran and Latin America's leftist governments as based on common interests and shared revolutionary ideologies, there were voices in Iran expressing reservations about these relations. Critics of the government, particularly among reformists, argued that Iran and Latin America lacked a common ideological ground and that strengthening these relations deviated from the principles of the Islamic Revolution. They also contended that bolstering ties with Latin America did not serve Iran's national interests. In an article published on the reformist website Rooz Online in January 2007, journalist Hossein Bastani accused the government of opportunism. He claimed that following the Islamic Revolution, the global Left was so captivated by the anti-imperialist discourse of Iranian revolutionaries that they turned a blind eye to post-revolution executions and human rights violations. Bastani further asserted that twenty-six years later, Ahmadinejad's government was attempting to exploit the leftist-marxist slogans that resonated with anti-American forces worldwide (Rooz Online, January 15, 2007).

Criticism of the growing alliance between Iran and the Latin American Left sometimes took a religious stance. For example, in July 2007, the Iranian press reported an alleged affair between the Venezuelan Consul in Iran and a married Iranian woman, and it denounced the presence of scantily dressed Iranian women at parties hosted by the Venezuelan Embassy, where alcohol was served (Farda News). Shortly after these reports, Ayatollah Noori Hamedani, a senior religious cleric, spoke out against the moral corruption at the Venezuelan Embassy. During a conference in Tehran, the cleric emphasized that performing good deeds and avoiding evil were among the most important commandments of Islam, and he called for a campaign against the immorality taking place at the embassy, despite Hugo Chavez referring to Iran as his "second home" (Baztab, July 15, 2007).

In September 2007, the Student Basij Organization at Tehran University organized a conference titled "Che like Chamran," where the children of Cuban-Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara were invited as guests of honor. The conference aimed to highlight the similarities between the teachings of Guevara and those of Iranian revolutionary Mustafa Chamran. Chamran, a founding member of the Shi'ite organization Amal in Southern Lebanon, served as the Islamic Republic's first Defense Minister after the 1979 revolution until his death in the Iran-Iraq War in 1981. In a message sent by Ahmadinejad to the conference attendees, the President emphasized the shared struggle of revolutionaries as representatives of the "Oppressed on Earth." He underscored their collective pursuit of global justice, liberty, and the fight against Western oppression. Ahmadinejad drew parallels between the Latin American revolutionaries' quest for freedom and independence and the Islamic revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

However, the conference organizers faced embarrassment when a speech by Che Guevara's daughter led to controversy. Aleida Guevara objected to several speakers' portrayal of her father as a religious man and an activist with reservations about socialism and communism. She protested against what she perceived as a distortion of her father's beliefs, asserting that he never discussed God (IPS News). In response to her speech, other conference speakers started highlighting the distinctions between the Iranian and South American revolutionaries. For example, Mohammed Sedaghat, a leader of the Islamic Student Union, stated that while Che Guevara deserved recognition as a revolutionary, there would always be a notable difference between Guevara and Iranian revolutionaries. He pointed out that while Chamran was "a Shi'ite Muslim revolutionary," Guevara was an atheist (ISNA).

This kind of argument continued to make waves even after the conference concluded. The radical blogger at Nasl-e Khomeini (Khomeini's generation) expressed astonishment at the very comparison between Chamran and Guevara, and claimed that Leftists around the world were "safe" enemies due to their moral bankruptcy, making it possible to form tactical collaborations based on their mutual enmity towards global Imperialism. However, Khomeini's followers should not compare Guevara to Chamran and must maintain the independent and unique identity of the Islamic Revolutionary movement as led by Khomeini (Nasl-e Khomeini). Mohammed-Ali Abtahi, the former Chief of Staff to President Khatami, also expressed criticism of the effort to draw comparisons between the two leaders. In his personal blog, the Reformist activist stated that Guevara and Chamran had become symbols of resistance and deserved global respect. However, Abtahi argued that Guevara should not be associated with religious ideas any more than Chamran should be labeled as having socialist tendencies. He believed that the attempt to incorporate Marxist ideology during the early days of the Islamic revolution had been highly detrimental and should never be repeated (webneveshtha).

Sixteen years later, President Raisi's visit to Latin America could be seen as another manifestation of Iran's perception of itself as one of the leaders of the Third World, or more commonly known as "The Global South." It also reflects Iran's efforts to establish a radical anti-American bloc with countries like Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. This self-perception has become even stronger in light of global changes, as the Iranian regime believes that the international landscape has shifted from a unipolar world dominated by the United States to a multipolar world with significant potential for anti-American nations such as Russia, China, and Iran. During his speech on the "National Day Against Global Arrogance" in November 2022, Supreme Leader Khamenei stated that the United States no longer held the highest level of power in the world. He asserted that the world was moving towards a new global order that opposed the West and American hegemony (Iranian Leader's website).

Simultaneously, Iran is aimed to expand its economic collaborations with anti-American countries as part of its strategy to circumvent international sanctions. The intention has been to increase trade with markets that were considered less vulnerable to these sanctions, including those in Latin America. This move was intended to provide Tehran with more flexibility in the face of sanctions and to compensate for the loss of commercial opportunities in other markets, particularly in the Western countries and Southeast Asia. In this reality, even though there may still be significant ideological differences between the Socialist Left and revolutionary Islam, the Islamic Republic continues to prioritize national interests and development and to emphasize the shared interests and commonalities with its global allies in the anti-American front.

T h e   A l l i a n c e   C e n t e r   f o r   I r a n i a n   S t u d i e s  ( A C I S )

Tel Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv 61390, Tel Aviv P.O.B. 39040, Israel   

Email:  Irancen@tauex.tau.ac.il;  Phone: +972-3-640-9510 

F a x : + 9 7 2 - 3 - 6 4 0 - 6 6 6 5   

ACIS Iran Pulse No. 112 ● November 7, 2022

©All rights reserved