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Iran Helps Nicaragua ‘Neutralize’ Effects of US Sanctions

An Iranian woman walks in a market in Tehran, Iran May 1, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
An Iranian woman walks in a market in Tehran, Iran May 1, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Iran Helps Nicaragua ‘Neutralize’ Effects of US Sanctions

An Iranian woman walks in a market in Tehran, Iran May 1, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
An Iranian woman walks in a market in Tehran, Iran May 1, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran has pledged to supply Nicaragua with fuel, participate in oil exploration and consider investing in a refinery to “neutralize the effects of US and European sanctions and encroachments.”

These sanctions target dozens of public sector officials and figures close to Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega who face charges related to corruption and human rights violations.

This came at the end of a visit by an Iranian government delegation, led by Oil Minister Javad Owji.

“We will do everything in our power to ensure the delivery of fuel to Nicaragua,” AFP quoted a Spanish translation of Owji’s statements during a live-streamed ceremony.

Nicaragua imports fuel from its ally Venezuela, which is currently experiencing an economic and social crisis. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led to the surge in global oil prices, has exacerbated the situation in the country, in light of US sanctions that make some of its transactions more difficult.

Ortega said discussions tackled key issues related to oil. “Petrochemical and oil projects were proposed, as well as improving and modernizing refineries and developing production in oil and gas fields.”

The two governments signed an agreement to develop oil exchanges and a contract to provide oil-derived products, without specifying its value.

Owji said the projects include the possibility of investing in a refinery in the “Bolivar’s Supreme Dream” industrial complex, which was launched by Ortega’s government in 2007 and includes a Venezuelan investment. The project’s implementation has stopped due to economic challenges in Caracas.

The minister expressed hope to continue the project’s implementation through an Iranian-Nicaraguan-Venezuelan joint investment.

Nicaragua’s government said the complex includes a fuel storage and distribution facility, which was completed with a $432 million-worth investment.

The project’s second phase requires an investment of more than $3.6 billion to construct a refinery.

Washington and Brussels have been calling for the release of more than 40 opposition figures, including seven former presidential candidates who were arrested before the November 2021 elections, in which Ortega won a fourth consecutive term.

Venezuela and Iran bolstered their ties after Washington imposed sanctions on their oil exports and against several government officials from both countries.

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Danish Leader Tells the US ‘You Cannot Annex Another Country’ as She Visits Greenland

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
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Danish Leader Tells the US ‘You Cannot Annex Another Country’ as She Visits Greenland

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)

Denmark's prime minister has told the US during a visit to Greenland that “you cannot annex another country,” even with the argument that international security is at stake.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, said on Friday that Washington will respect Greenland's self-determination and Copenhagen “should focus on the fact that the Greenlanders don’t want to be a part of Denmark.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was wrapping up a three-day visit to the strategically critical Arctic island on Friday as US President Donald Trump seeks control of Greenland. He argues that Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, is critical to US security.

A week ago, Vice President JD Vance visited a remote US military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of underinvesting in the territory.

Frederiksen pushed back against the US criticism as she spoke on Thursday alongside Greenland's incoming and outgoing leaders on board a Danish naval ship. She argued that Denmark, a NATO ally, has been a reliable friend.

Speaking in English, she said that “if we let ourselves be divided as allies, then we do our foes a favor. And I will do everything that I can to prevent that from happening.”

“When you ask our businesses to invest in the US, they do. When you ask us to spend more on our defense, we do; and when you ask of us to strengthen security in the Arctic, we are on the same page,” she said.

“But when you demand to take over a part of the Kingdom of Denmark’s territory, when we are met by pressure and by threats from our closest ally, what are we to believe in about the country that we have admired for so many years?”

“This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations: you cannot annex another country, not even with an argument about international security,” Frederiksen said.

The Danish leader said that, if the US wants to strengthen security in the Arctic, “let us do so together.”

Political parties in Greenland, which has been leaning toward eventual independence from Denmark for years, last week agreed to form a broad-based new coalition government in the face of Trump's designs on the territory. Those have angered many in Greenland and Denmark.

In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, Vance repeated the accusation that Denmark has “really underinvested in the infrastructure and security of Greenland.”

He said Trump's point is that “this matters to our security, this matters to our missile defense, and we're going to protect America's interests come hell or high water.”

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who was attending a meeting in Brussels with his NATO counterparts, wrote on social network X that he had an “honest and direct” meeting Thursday with Rubio.

“I made it crystal clear that claims and statements about annexing Greenland are not only unacceptable and disrespectful,” Løkke Rasmussen wrote. “They amount to a violation of international law.”

Rubio told reporters in Brussels Friday that “no one's annexed anything.” He added that Vance has made clear that “he's going to respect the self-determination of Greenlanders.”

“Denmark should focus on the fact that the Greenlanders don’t want to be a part of Denmark," Rubio said.

“We didn’t give them that idea. They’ve been talking about that for a long time,” he said. "Whenever they make that decision, they’ll make that decision.”

“If they make that decision, then the United States would stand ready, potentially, to step in and say, okay, we can create a partnership with you," Rubio said, adding that "we’re not at that stage.”