Iran increases military presence In Venezuela with drone factory

The Islamic Republic of Iran has strengthened its military might considerably on Joe Biden’s watch. It has also strengthened crucial partnerships, including those with Russia and Venezuela, particularly the latter.

In August 2022, Venezuela provided Iran with 1,000,000 hectares of “farmland for cultivation.” Cultivation of what? It should have been obvious that the intention was malign and detrimental to Western interests. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro also visited Tehran that year, signing a 20-year partnership agreement “on cooperation with Iran in various fields.”

In 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned an antiterrorism conference in Colombia about the Iranian proxy Hizballah’s presence in Venezuela, and an exiled former mayor, Antonio Ledezma, stated that Hizballah would participate in overseeing Venezuelan regional elections. Ledezma called Venezuela “a den for terrorist groups.”

Last March, the IDF warned that Iran was arming Venezuela with weapons that were “very capable of hitting the U.S.”

Iran has been developing drones since the 1980s, and has become a world leader in their production.

According to senior military officials and independent analysis by the Global Terrorism Trends and Analysis Center (GTTAC), which provides data to the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, most attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used in the world today originate from Iran. Notably, the GTTAC data do not include Iranian drones used by Russia as part of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Even in Sudan, according to the Economic Times, in January, 2024, “rebels fighting the Sudanese army shot down a drone near Khartoum. As jubilant gunmen posted video of the wreckage on social media, they offered a fresh data point on how Iranian technology is remaking the global weapons trade.”

Given the development of the relationship between Iran and Venezuela, Venezuela’s neighbor Trinidad and Tobago last month signed national security agreements with the US in the event of conflict with Venezuela.

Days ago, Iran conducted an air-defense drill at its Natanz nuclear facility, and tested the “interception of missiles, IAV swarms and bunker-buster bombs.”

The writing has been on the wall for years as Iran developed its drone technology and nuclear capabilities, strengthened the red-green axis, and harnessed Venezuela as a virtual proxy under the ruthless and illegitimate leadership of Nicolás Maduro. It all happened under the watch of Joe Biden, who helped fill Iran’s coffers.

“Iran Increases Military Presence In Venezuela With Drone Factory As Maduro Claims New Term In Office Despite Condemnation,” by Maria Villarroel, Latin Times, January 11, 2025:

Iran is increasing its military presence in Venezuela, with officials and personnel, with some members of the country’s elite acquiring properties in the Latin American country and being offered political asylum should they eventually need it. The presence comes amid regional conflict in the Middle East as well as increased electoral tension in Venezuela.

The relationship between the two countries has grown over the years, Infobae has detailed, with Iran having established a drone development base at the El Libertador air base in Venezuela, where training for Venezuelan military personnel is also carried out. That project includes the production and training in the use of a wide range of unnamed aerial vehicles (UAV).

Among them are the ZAMORA V-1 (Shahed-131), used for one-way attack missions. That and other drones represent a significant technological advance in Venezuela’s military capacity, with the direct support of Tehran, the outlet explains.

But drone development is not the only involvement from Iran in the region, as the country is also looking to sell them to other countries in the region, a practice that could destabilize the geopolitical landscape in Latin America….