Iran appears to be wading into the rising tensions between the United States and Venezuela.
“President Trump ordered action – and the Department of War is delivering,” US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wrote last Thursday. “Today, I’m announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR. Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and Southern Command... this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people. The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it.”
Tensions have been rising with Venezuela and its regime, which is led by Nicolas Maduro. The US has had tensions with the Venezuelan regime over the past two decades.
The Trump administration has condemned the regime in the past, and the first Trump administration also had tensions with Caracas. Over the last month, the US has dramatically increased its naval presence in the Caribbean.
Iran increases tensions
It now appears that Tehran wants to increase tensions as well. Iran has been a close ally of the Maduro regime. It has provided Venezuela with drones and has conducted trade with Caracas. Iran has also sent its navy to Venezuela in the past.
Iranian “Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has warned about the dangerous consequences of US military activities in the Caribbean and Latin America for international peace and security,” Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Iran’s official news agency, reported Saturday.
“Baqaei called for respecting Venezuela’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the report said. “He described the threat of using force against the legitimate and elected government of Venezuela as a clear violation of law and a gross breach of the principles of the United Nations Charter, particularly the principle of the right of nations to self-determination and the principle of the prohibition of the use of force outlined in Article 2(4).”
Baqaei said US attacks on fishing boats were “arbitrary and extrajudicial killings, and he urged stopping the misuse combating drug trafficking to violate Venezuela’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” IRNA reported. “Baqaei reminded the UN and its Secretary General Antonio Guterres of their responsibility to prevent the violation of international peace and security and the promotion of aggressive unilateralism in the world.”
Meanwhile, Venezuela has strategic alliances with Iran, China, and Russia, Venezuelan Ambassador to Iran José Rafael Silva Aponte said, adding that “Venezuela will never allow any foreign government to determine its foreign policy.”
“Venezuela pursues an independent and sovereign foreign policy grounded in the Bolivarian diplomacy of peace, self-determination, and non-intervention,” IRNA quoted him as saying. “We will never accept any foreign government determining our domestic or foreign policies.”
Venezuela is concerned about US threats to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
“Our strategic alliances with China, Russia, and Iran are based on mutual cooperation, respect for sovereignty, and joint development,” Aponte said. “They form an essential part of the emerging multipolar world, which has now become an undeniable reality.”
Clearly, Venezuela is reaching out to other countries to try to balance US threats.