TEHRAN – Bolivia’s top diplomat has said that his country is seeking to reopen the Bolivian embassy in Tehran to rebuild the relationship with Iran.

Bolivia Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta has said that Bolivia today wants to rebuild the relationship frozen by the de facto government of Jeanine Añez with Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Nicaragua and Iran, Prensa Latina reported on Sunday.

In a statement on Sunday, Mayta affirmed that the Bolivian state must have relations with all the countries within the framework of respect for sovereignty, and pointed out that the Venezuela resumption is in progress.

“We must advance unity of the region and that is why we must talk with all nations,” the Bolivian foreign minister said while regretting the decisions taken by the Executive headed by Jeanine Anez.

He also said that Bolivia is going to resume political relations and appoint Bolivian ambassadors in those nations.

Mayta added that in the case of Cuba “we will also work to recover agreements such as the export of lumber and other products.”

The foreign minister underlined that there are many agreements with the Caribbean Island that must be resumed. He also addressed Europe, where he made particular emphasis in the case of Russia, a nation with which there is an “excellent level of dialogue, understanding and cooperation.”

Regarding the relationship with Iran, he said that they will seek to achieve the reopening of the Bolivian embassy in the Islamic Republic, which is one of the most critical against the foreign policy of the U.S. administration.

Prensa Latina also said that Mayta believes that the former officials, whom he called “coup plotters,” followed political instructions from the United States.

Bolivia’s new president, Luis Arce, has made good on his pledge to restore relations with Iran and Venezuela a few days after he assumed office. During a formal ceremony in La Paz in November, President Arce received the credentials of the new ambassadors of Iran and Venezuela, reestablishing diplomatic relations damaged by the previous de-facto government led by interim president Jeanine Anez, according to a statement issued by Bolivia’s government.

Writing on Twitter, Arce said he was restoring bilateral relations with Venezuela “to strengthen strategic ties for the good of our peoples.” He said the same was being done with Iran and that “they are always welcome in Bolivia. We will continue to strengthen common projects.”

The restoration of diplomatic ties between Tehran and La Paz came two days after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attended Arce’s swearing-in ceremony as part of a tour of several Latin American nations that included Venezuela and Cuba.

The chief Iranian diplomat visited Bolivia in early November and was received by the speaker of the Bolivian parliament. He met with Luis Arce and later participated in his swearing-in ceremony.

Following his victory in Bolivia’s presidential election, Arce vowed to re-establish all relations.

“We are going to re-establish all relations. This government has acted very ideologically, depriving the Bolivian people of access to Cuban medicine, Russian medicine, and advances in China. For a purely ideological issue, it has exposed the population in a way unnecessary and harmful,” Arce said.

SM/PA