The Iranian regime — reeling from mass protests that could be the most severe threat to the tyranny of the ayatollahs since the 1979 Islamic revolution — denounced President Donald Trump’s arrest of Venezuelan narco-terrorist dictator Nicolas Maduro in the harshest terms, and demanded United Nations intervention on Maduro’s behalf.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Saturday morning condemning “the U.S. military attack on Venezuela and the blatant violation of the country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Iran said the attack “constitutes a clear violation of the fundamental principles of the U.N. Charter and the basic rules of international law, particularly Article 2(4) of the Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force, and fully qualifies as an ‘act of aggression.’”
“It must be explicitly and immediately condemned by the U.N. and by all states that are committed to the rule of law, as well as to international peace and security,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry demanded.
Iran said the U.S. action against Venezuela, “an independent state that is a member of the U.N.,” represented “a grave breach of regional and international peace and security” that could “further expose the U.N. Charter-based order to erosion and destruction.”
Iran called on the U.N. and its member states to take immediate action against the United States.
“While recalling Venezuela’s inherent right to defend its national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and right to self-determination, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes the legal and moral responsibility of all states and international organizations, particularly the U.N. and its Security Council, to immediately halt the United States’ unlawful aggression against Venezuela,” the foreign ministry said.
The statement further stressed “the necessity of taking appropriate measures to hold accountable the planners and perpetrators of crimes committed in the course of this military aggression.”
Iran’s terrorist proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, also condemned the U.S. action against Maduro as “terrorist aggression” and “American thuggery against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
Hezbollah reaffirmed its “full solidarity with Venezuela — its people, presidency, and government — in confronting this American aggression and arrogance.”
Iran is a major strategic and economic ally of the Maduro dictatorship, which has been helping Iran to build drones and ballistic missiles.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned ten individuals and entities for helping Iran extend its drone pipeline into the Western hemisphere through Venezuela, which posed a clear threat to American national security.
“Treasury is holding Iran and Venezuela accountable for their aggressive and reckless proliferation of deadly weapons around the world,” said Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley.
Venezuela has also helped Iran evade sanctions against its oil industry. On December 10, U.S. forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela that was allegedly carrying sanctioned oil to Iran. Iran denounced the seizure of the tanker as an act of American “piracy.” The Iranians have been helping Venezuela to refine its oil after the Maduro regime drove most of Venezuela’s skilled engineers into exile.
The Iranian regime is tottering after a massive protest movement against Tehran’s inept stewardship of the national economy spread across the nation last week. Iran’s ailing Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, emerged from hiding on Saturday to demand the protesters “must be put in their place” with deadly force.
On Friday, President Donald Trump warned that if Iran “shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue.”
“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” Trump said.
Khamenei’s nervous statement seemingly took account of this warning, as the ayatollah strove to differentiate between “peaceful protesters” that his regime “must talk to,” and the “rioters” — whom he alleged were orchestrated by hostile foreign governments — who must be put down.
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