Iran backs Maduro to keep Latin America foothold as Trump increases pressure on Venezuela

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Iranis backing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro just as the Trump administration steps up military pressure in the Caribbean and expands its crackdown on criminal networks tied to the regime in Caracas.

Earlier this week, Iran condemned U.S.actions and publicly tied itself to Maduro.Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei warned of “dangerous repercussions” from U.S.military activity in the region, arguing the operations threaten “international peace and security,” according to Iran’s official news agency, IRNA.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Iván Gil Pinto immediately welcomed Tehran’s backing.In comments reported by the Tehran Times, he thanked Iran for its “solidarity with the Venezuelan people.”

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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro holds up a copy of his country

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro holds up a copy of his country’s case taken to the International Criminal Court regarding U.S.sanctions during a press conference at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

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Isaias Medina III, a former Venezuelan diplomat at the U.N.Security Council who resigned in 2017 due to Maduro“Iran’s partnership with the rogue Venezuelan narco-dictatorship is far from a principled stand for ‘sovereign rights’ under the U.N.Charter.It is a calculated strategy serving mutual interests in criminal enterprise and asymmetric warfare, posing a direct and evolving threat to U.S.national security,” he said.

“This is a partnership for power, not principles.Iran’s engagement centers on deepening military, criminal, and intelligence cooperation that blatantly disregards international norms,” he said.

When asked on Monday whether he had ruled out anything, including U.S.troops on the ground, PresidentDonald Trumptold reporters, “No, I don’t rule out that, I don’t rule out anything.We just have to take care of Venezuela.They dumped hundreds of thousands of people into our country from prisons.”

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Iran

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is pictured sitting next to a senior military official in Iran.(Getty Images)

Danny Citrinowicz, a senior fellow at Israel’s public defense of Venezuela reflects deep strategic anxiety inside Tehran.

“Iran is extremely, extremely worried that it’s going to lose its main hub inLatin America,” he said.“Losing Maduro will be a strategic loss for Iran, because Venezuela is a strategic hub, not only for the activity in Venezuela itself, but also activity in Latin America in general.”

Citrinowicz pointed to the recently exposedassassination attempton Israel’s ambassador in Mexico, which Mexican authorities linked to operatives with ties to Iran’s Quds Force.According to Citrinowicz, the operation illustrates how Iran uses Venezuelan territory as a staging ground.

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Iran and Venezuela relationship grows.

Former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi welcomes Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro at Sadabat Palace in Tehran, Iran on June 11, 2022.(Photo by Iranian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

He said the Iranians “used their presence in Venezuela, mainly the Quds Force presence, in order to gather the right people that actually tried to commit this attack.” 

“It’s one example of many, how Iranians are using their presence in Venezuela as some sort of way to jump into the Latin American continent as a whole.”

He added that Venezuela has long been Iran’s most important foothold in the region: “Losing Venezuela is not only losing the grip of Venezuela itself, but also the ability to use Venezuela in order to enhance their activity in Latin America in general, also including operational activity like we saw in Mexico.”

Citrinowicz said that Iran has already lost one longtime ally in the region after recent elections in Bolivia.Remaining partners include Venezuela,Cuba and Nicaragua, but “strategically and historically, Venezuela was the most important one because it gave them enough room to operate.”

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Iran Raisi Maduro

Venezuela’s Minister of Petroleum Pedro Tellechea and his Iranian counterpart Javad Owji sign agreements during a meeting of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and then Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the Miraflores Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela, June 12, 2023.(Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)

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Asked whether Iran is aiding the Venezuelan military directly, he said: “They have advisors on the ground.They can help the Venezuelan army, and they can also send arms via Qeshm Fars Air flights flying from Tehran to Caracas.They did that in the past, and they can do that even today.”

On Tuesday, American Families Against Cartel Terrorism (AmFACT) President Adriana Jones welcomed the U.S.State Department’s designation of Venezuela-based Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Jones — whose sister Maria “Rhonita” LeBaron and four of her children were murdered in the 2019 Juárez cartel massacre — said the move demonstrates Washington’s resolve.

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“The terrorist designation of the Cartel de los Soles is an important reminder that the Trump administration is willing to use Foreign Terrorist Organization designations to combat dangerous drug and human trafficking cartels,” she said.

She urged policymakers to extend the same designation to theJuárez Carteland its armed wing, La Línea, arguing that every day without it “allows them space to operate with impunity and heightens the likelihood that more American families will endure the same grief and devastation we have.”

Since September, the U.S.has launched at least 21 fatal strikes on boats allegedlyinvolved in narcotics traffickingoff Central and South America, including one on Sunday, as part of what officials describe as a widening campaign to disrupt maritime routes tied to Venezuelan criminal networks.

Efrat Lachter is an investigative reporter and war correspondent.Her work has taken her to 40 countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Iraq, Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan.She is a recipient of the 2024 Knight-Wallace Fellowship for Journalism.Lachter can be followed on X @efratlachter.

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