Spokesman of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization Reza Jafarzadeh said the route was launched in the early hours of Monday, with the first flight taking off from Tehran’s International Imam Khomeini Airport to the Venezuelan capital.

He noted that the plane took off with the Iranian foreign minister’s aide and the director of the Foreign Ministry Department for the Americas, Mohsen Baharvand, and his delegation on board, who are set to hold political talks with the Venezuelan officials on the current situation in the South American country.

According to Jafarzadeh, a delegation from Mahan Air is also traveling to Caracas to discuss the conditions of maintaining regular flights between the two countries.

The non-stop Tehran-Caracas flight will take 16 hours.