Venezuelan VP welcomes Iranian supermarket

Venezuela Vice President Delcy Rodriguez welcomed Thursday the opening of the first Iranian supermarket in Latin America, which officially opened its doors on Wednesday.

The opening is a new mark on the close alliance between Caracas and Tehran that has intensified in recent months in open defiance of US sanctions.

"We have seen the potential of the Islamic Republic of Iran, that despite the blockade, they have been able to show more than 2,000 products they have here, in display for the Venezuelan public," Rodriguez said.

The facilities now used by Megasis are formerly a state market in the east of the capital, which the government expropriated in 2010 from a chain of French-Colombian supermarkets.

Megasis opened amid a tightening of the quarantine that is affecting the inhabitants of Miranda state, neighbor to Caracas.

Residents are only allowed to go out to buy food and other goods assorted in different times, depending on their identity card number.

The inauguration of the new supermarket was held at a private event attended only by Venezuelan government officials, Iranian diplomatic staff and business figures, according to images that a correspondent for the Telesur chain posted on its Twitter account on Wednesday night.

Iranian businessman Issa Rezaei runs the Megasis supermarket chain, with 700 stores in Iran.

Rezaie said during a visit to the supermarket Wednesday that the next step will be to export Venezuelan products into Iran, and predicted closer commercial relations.