Khamenei Invites Cuba to Form ‘Global Alliance’ Against US

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei met in Tehran on Monday with visiting Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel

Iran and Cuba on Monday pledged to strengthen their relations in various fields and to stand together in the face of US sanctions imposed on the two countries.
During a meeting with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who is visiting Tehran for the first time, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for a global coalition against what he called “US and Western arrogance.”
He said, “The numerous political and economic capacities of Iran and Cuba should be used to form an alliance and a coalition between countries that have the same stance against the coercive behaviors of the US and Western countries.”
The Supreme Leader’s website also quoted Khamenei as saying that, “By focusing on economic cooperation, this coalition can take a common and effective position on important global issues such as the Palestinian issue.”
Khamenei then noted that the position of the Cuban president on global issues, especially the issue of Palestine, is in line with the views of Iran.
During the meeting, Iran’s Supreme Leader also reflected on the meeting he had 22 years ago with Fidel Castro, the late leader of Cuba. “The Cuban Revolution and the personality of Mr. Castro always had a special appeal for Iranian revolutionaries before the victory of the Iranian Revolution and this was due to his honesty in his revolutionary positions,” he affirmed.
He added that “revolutionary honesty, revolutionary steadfastness and revolutionary seriousness" are the common features of the Cuban Revolution and the Iranian Revolution, even though Iran imposes a ban on the activities of leftist parties that participated in the revolution that overthrew the Shah's regime in 1979.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said during a joint statement with his visiting Cuban counterpart that, “There is a serious determination between the two countries to develop relations,” adding that "the common feature of the two countries is that they both stand against the system of domination.”
Cuba has been under a US embargo since 1962 and is included on the American list of countries supporting terrorism — like Iran, which is also subject to severe sanctions linked primarily to its nuclear program.
According to Raisi, “What can neutralize the sanctions is the exchange of capacities between the two countries,” referring to the policy that Khamenei has presented as a means to nullify Western sanctions targeting Tehran.
Diaz-Canel, who arrived in Tehran on Sunday after participating in the UN’s COP28 climate talks in Dubai, thanked Iran for supporting his country's “fight against the cruel embargo” imposed by the United States.
Seven memorandums of understanding and cooperation documents were signed between the two countries in a range of sectors, including science and technology, health, agriculture, energy and mining, communications and medicine.
Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis since the disappearance of Soviet subsidies in the 1990s.
Raisi visited Havana in June on the last stop of a tour of “friendly countries” in Latin America, which also included Venezuela.