- I Admire Khamenei – He Has Great Wisdom; I Will Visit Iran, Meet President Raisi-
- Al-Assad is a hero – he will liberate Syria;
- Soleimani was a brave man – his assassination was a crime
Nicolás Maduro, the President of Venezuela, was interviewed on Mayadeen TV (Lebanon) on December 26, 2021.
In the interview, Maduro praised Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and IRGC Qods Force Commander General Qasem Soleimani. Maduro said that Al-Assad is a "hero" who will successfully liberate all of Syria. Maduro then said he intends to visit Iran after having been invited by Iranian President Raisi, and he said that he greatly admires Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who he said has "great wisdom and enormous intelligence."
In addition, Maduro said that General Soleimani had been brave, cheerful, and optimistic, and that his "assassination" by the U.S. had been a crime.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro: "President Bashar Al-Assad is a brave man, a hero. He is really a great man, a fighter. He has a beautiful family and a wonderful nation.
"We love Syria very much. Syria had to face a criminal terrorist war. The Syrian people have suffered a lot in the past 11 years, but they knew how to persevere and emerge victorious. I am certain that the Syrian Arab Army, along with the united Syrian people and President Bashar Al-Assad, will make Syria prosper again. They will liberate Syria in its entirety. The Arab world – in fact, the whole world – will be astonished to see Syria's revival in the coming years.
"Our relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran have always been very good – with former President Ahmadinejad, as well as with former President Rouhani, and now, with President Raisi, with whom I talked over the phone on two occasions. We agreed on several new plans, and our two countries' joint governmental committee is working on preparing these new projects, which include networking and cooperation between Iran and Venezuela. Very soon, I will travel to Tehran, at the invitation of President Raisi, in order to personally get to know each other from up close, hold talks, and sign new agreements and documents that will speed up cooperation in all fields.
"I admire Ayatollah Khamenei very much. Whenever I go to Iran, I like talking to the Ayatollah. He is a man of great wisdom and enormous intelligence. Therefore, I hope that in my upcoming visit, I will get the chance to talk to Ayatollah Khamenei once again.
"[Qasem Soleimani] was a cheerful and optimistic man. I thank the Lord for having had the chance to know him. This man confronted terrorism and the bloodthirsty criminals who attacked the nations of the resistance axis. He was a brave man.
"Let us raise our voices once again, and declare our rejection of the crime of assassinating this martyr commander General Qasem Soleimani, the people's hero."