For Ecuador, Iran has never represented a relevant partner, either politically or commercially
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Former ambassador Hernán Pérez Loose stated that Iran has never been a key country in Ecuador's diplomatic agenda. Although former president Rafael Correa attempted rapprochements, these did not succeed or generate lasting ties.
During his administration, Correa visited Tehran and praised the Iranian regime, seeking to align Ecuador with authoritarian governments opposed to the international order. However, relations cooled as Iran's aggressive policy in the Middle East provoked global rejection.
In the economic sphere, relations were also marginal. Exports, such as bananas, were anecdotal and did not establish sustainable trade. According to Pérez Loose, Ecuador and Iran "are very distant worlds" and lack real complementarity.
The diplomat recalled that the 1994 AMIA bombing, linked to Iran, damaged the image of the Islamic country in Latin America. That historical distrust partly explains why Ecuador never prioritized ties with Tehran, even during governments after Correa.
Hernán Pérez Loose durante una ponencia como embajador de Ecuador en la ONU
Currently, Daniel Noboa's government has shown interest in the Middle East, but according to Pérez Loose, Iran is not part of those plans due to its lack of strategic relevance. In his view, Ecuador also doesn't have a relevant role in the Iran-Israel conflict and should not take sides. "We haven't been adversaries or allies, there simply hasn't been an opportunity," Pérez Loose said. Ideologized attempts like Correa's did not generate concrete benefits for the country, only symbolic approaches lacking pragmatic vision.
This episode reinforces the importance of avoiding alliances with regimes that question the international order and do not contribute to national development. Ecuador needs stable, strategic and useful relations, not ideological gestures without projection.
Twenty-first century socialism proved to be more inclined toward propagandistic than effective relations. Today, diplomacy focused on mutual benefit and international coherence is more urgent than ever.
The experience with Iran during Correa's administration makes it clear that foreign policy must respond to the national interest, not to sterile ideological affinities.
