Iran's oil minister has paid an official visit to ally Venezuela to meet President Nicolas Maduro and discuss ways to "overcome" the effects of US sanctions against both nations, officials said.
Maduro said on Twitter that he held "a productive meeting” with Javad Owji “to deepen the ties of brotherhood and cooperation in energy matters."
State television showed images of the meeting at the presidential palace in Miraflores.
Earlier Owji met his counterpart Tareck El Aissami to discuss "the construction of routes and mechanisms to overcome the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States government and allied countries," according to a statement from the Venezuelan Oil Ministry.
Javad Owji's visit to Venezuela, which sits on the world's largest proven reserves of crude, came just weeks after a visit by United States officials in the midst of rising global oil prices due to the war on Ukraine.
In March, a US delegation held a hushed meeting with Maduro, whose very legitimacy as president Washington disputes.
El Aissami, named a narcotics "kingpin" by the United States which has placed him on a most-wanted fugitives list, posted a video on Instagram Monday of him receiving Owji at his office with a handshake.
