Maduro, Iran FM Discuss Defense Against 'External Pressures'

This handout picture released by Miraflores Palace press office shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) speaking with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (L) during a meeting at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on February 3, 2023. (Photo by JHONN ZERPA / Miraflores press office / AFP)
This handout picture released by Miraflores Palace press office shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) speaking with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (L) during a meeting at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on February 3, 2023. (Photo by JHONN ZERPA / Miraflores press office / AFP)
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Maduro, Iran FM Discuss Defense Against 'External Pressures'

This handout picture released by Miraflores Palace press office shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) speaking with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (L) during a meeting at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on February 3, 2023. (Photo by JHONN ZERPA / Miraflores press office / AFP)
This handout picture released by Miraflores Palace press office shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) speaking with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (L) during a meeting at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on February 3, 2023. (Photo by JHONN ZERPA / Miraflores press office / AFP)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the visiting Iranian foreign minister discussed the need for "vigilance in defending their national interests against external pressures," according to a statement released Saturday.

The Caracas visit Friday by Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian underlined the strength of an alliance between two countries seen as outcasts by much of the international community, both of them subject to US sanctions.

Maduro received Abdollahian on Friday evening in the Miraflores presidential palace after the Iranian minister arrived from Managua, Nicaragua.

"I am sure that our relations will continue to strengthen for technological, industrial, scientific and cultural exchanges that benefit both peoples," Maduro wrote on Twitter, calling the meeting "productive."

On a visit to Tehran last June, Maduro signed a 20-year pact which he said opened "major fronts" for cooperation in the petroleum, petrochemical and defense sectors.

On Friday, the two parties "emphasized the strengthening and monitoring of projects and accelerating their implementation, as well as vigilance in defending their national interests against external pressures," a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

"The parties also welcomed the increase in relations and exchange of views between the officials of the two countries," AFP quoted it as saying.



Protest Against Gaza War Prevents Israeli Visitors from Touring Greek Island

Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
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Protest Against Gaza War Prevents Israeli Visitors from Touring Greek Island

Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)

A cruise ship carrying Israeli tourists left the Greek island of Syros Tuesday without its passengers disembarking, after more than 150 protesters demonstrated at the island’s port, unfurling Palestinian flags and calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

Carrying banners that read: “Stop the Genocide” and “No a/c in hell” — a reference to the conditions Palestinians face in the Gaza Strip — the protesters chanted slogans on the dock near where the cruise ship, the Crown Iris, was docked on Tuesday, local media said. There were no reports of any violence.

The ship is operated by an Israeli company, Mano Cruise, which said about 1,700 passengers were on board and it is sailing to Cyprus.

Greece’s coast guard said the ship set sail at around 3 p.m., earlier than originally scheduled, but did not immediately have any further details.

“The management of Mano Cruise has decided in light of the situation in the city of Syros to now sail to another tourist destination,” the company said in a press release. “All passengers and crew members are resting and spending time on the ship on their way to the new destination.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar contacted his Greek counterpart, George Gerapetritis, over the incident, the Greek foreign ministry confirmed. It did not release any details of their discussion.