New in PJ Media:
Venezuelans are celebrating the capture of Marxist dictator Nicolás Maduro, but in far-off Iran, the embattled leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran had good reason to view the event with considerable disquiet. The Iranian Foreign Ministry called the capture “a gross violation of the country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
It never, of course, used any similar language to describe its own financing and arming of Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis, and the Assad regime, all for the purpose of committing gross violations of Israel’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity. But behind all its present braggadocio, it’s clear that the removal of Maduro has dealt the Iranian mullahs a severe blow: They’ve lost one of their best friends.
The former deputy commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Ray Palumbo and Yoni Tobin, a senior policy analyst at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), wrote in late November that “the Iran-Venezuela strategic partnership has matured into a robust, multi-dimensional alliance, impacting both regional security and US foreign policy calculations. Iran and Venezuela’s cooperation spans the social, political, diplomatic, economic, and military domains.”
This cooperation goes back far longer than most people realize. Palumbo and Tobin note that the partnership between Iran and Venezuela began in the 1950s, long before either one was a rogue state. Then in 2005, Hugo Chávez, Maduro’s predecessor and the man who wrecked Venezuela in the first place, declared that Venezuela and the Islamic Republic of Iran were “brothers.”
In 2007, Chávez and Iran’s then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad formed an “anti-imperialist alliance” that was obviously directed solely at the United States. Over the years, say Palumbo and Tobin, the Islamic Republic has established “a robust foothold in Latin America, constructing a dense network involving both direct state-to-state links and the integration of proxy actors like Hezbollah. The bilateral relationship has been solidified by defense pacts, including a 20-year agreement signed in 2022, and joint manufacturing of Iranian drones and weapons on Venezuelan soil, including potential deployments of loitering munitions and jamming devices.”
All of that, of course, was directed against the United States, and there was much more as well. Latin Times reported in Jan. 2025 that the Islamic Republic was “increasing its military presence in Venezuela, with officials and personnel.” Iran also “established a drone development base at the El Libertador air base in Venezuela,” where unnamed aerial vehicles (UAV) were also produced and Iranians trained Venezuelan military personnel. The Maduro regime hoped to sell those drones to other leftist countries in Latin America.
There is more. Read the rest here.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Hopefully, the new establishment in Venezuela – since they’re now following US orders, according to Trump – will crack down on not just the cartels, but Hizbullah as well, and deport all islamic agents in their country
I do find it a tad curious that Colombia hasn’t said anything, unlike Brazil, Mexico and Cuba. Maybe they fear being in the crosshairs
James Lincoln says
࿗Infidel࿘ says,
“Maybe they fear being in the crosshairs”
I think that they are in the crosshairs.
Rarely says
Of course it has nothing to do with oil.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
No, b’cos the US is already sitting on a ton of oil, while Venezuela’s oil industry has so collapsed that they’ve had to import oil from Iran, of all places
Hopefully, the islamic regime in Iran falls this month. As it is, those protests show no sign of abating
Rarely says
But the US has to be paid for helping the Venezuelan people and they do have the World’s largest proven oil reserves. Besides US oil companies have been cut out for so long and they have the expertise to develop those reserves. Plus Venezuela is on the Donald J. Trump Gulf of America so is a natural satellite. Everybody wins.
Michael says
Except impotent communists like you. 🙂
Rarely says
Yup.
Everyone who doesn’t agree with you on everything is a Commie.
James Lincoln says
Rarely says,
“But the US has to be paid for helping the Venezuelan people and they do have the World’s largest proven oil reserves.”
It certainly reasonable that the United States should be reimbursed for helping the Venezuelan people.
And their top commodity is “liquid gold”.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Venezuela is on the Gulf of America? Dude, look at a map!
Also, Venezuela’s oil refining is very different from others, since most of it is mixed w/ tar. There is only one refinery near Houston that knows how to refine it. Other than that, the others may be in Venezuela
At any rate, Venezuelan companies will have to get back control of the oilfields and refining facilities, which they lost when Hugo Chavez nationalized everything. Then get production up to full capacity so that Venezuela can economically recover from the 2 decades of communist rule
Rarely says
Yup.
Everyone who doesn’t agree with you about everything is a commie. You probably believe that because the US took out Venezuela’s head of state the US has the right to run the country or, at least, control its oil industry.
Michael says
You’re in the wrong forum. If you want to spend your free time rehashing the bullshit spewed by leftists during the Iraq wars I’m sure there are places you’ll find a warm welcome. I understand a lot of Antifa chapters have Facebook sites.
Voltaic says
So, iran-Venezuela is an analogue of the infamous USSR-Cuba alliance.
Kennedy : Trump.
Khrushchev : Putin
Castro : Maduro
The weather: much the same, no sign of snow yet in the Caribbean.