Cuba is rolling out the welcome mat for Iran, signing off on several agreements this week, which include opening its borders to Iranian investors.

"Cuba is open to any type of business model, in terms of cooperation and investment, that Iranian businessmen propose," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel told a group of 200 Iranian entrepreneurs and government officials. "We aspire for Iran to become an important economic actor in Cuba's development model."

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The hand-picked president of the island nation met with his counterpart in Tehran to ink seven cooperation deals reached in science, technology, health, agriculture, energy and mining, communications, and medicine. It's the latest sign that Havana is seeking to bolster its alliance with anti-U.S. regimes.

Cuba and Iran are under U.S. sanctions and are included in a U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism. Cuba has been under a U.S. embargo since 1962, while Iran has been subject to severe sanctions tied to its nuclear program.

Diaz-Canel met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. During the meeting, Khamenei suggested the two countries use their "capacities" to "set up an alliance and a coalition among those countries that share the same position against the U.S. and Western bullying," Press TV, an English-language Iranian television station, reported. 

Raisi called the meeting "a serious determination between the two countries to develop relations," adding, "The common feature of the two countries is that they both stand against the system of domination."

Diaz-Canel, who arrived in Tehran on Sunday after participating in the United Nations's COP28 climate talks in Dubai, thanked Iran for supporting Cuba's "fight against the cruel embargo" imposed by the United States.

Cuba has been going through deep economic hardship following the breakup of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. During its existence, the Soviet Union provided Cuba with large shipments of oil, food, and machinery. After the Soviet Union's collapse, Cuba was left struggling. Its GDP shrunk by 35%, while its imports and exports fell by 80%. In addition, domestic industries took substantial hits.

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Today, the island faces shortages of food, medicine, and fuel. Iran is also feeling the pinch of international sanctions and is experiencing high inflation and a record depreciation of the rial, its national currency.

The latest meeting between Cuba and Iran comes after Raisi visited Havana in June as the last stop of his "friendly countries" tour in Latin America.