Tehran's monsters lose their Latin American beachhead.
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.” --->READ MORE HERE
Protests are intensifying across Iran as the regime faces mounting unrest at home and a powerful signal from the U.S. abroad, following the collapse of a key Iranian ally in Venezuela.
Demonstrations in Iran are entering their second week, fueled by soaring prices and deep frustration with years of international isolation. Protests have spread to more than 220 locations across most of Iran's provinces, including the capital, Tehran, as the Islamic Republic's economy continues to unravel.
Iran's currency has plunged into free fall, with the rial now trading at more than a million to one U.S. dollar.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the unrest and issued a warning as security forces moved to contain the demonstrations.
"We talk to protesters; the officials must talk to them. But there is no benefit to talking to rioters. Rioters must be put in their place," Khamenei declared.
According to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 19 people have been killed and more than 990 arrested, underscoring the growing volatility facing the regime at a moment of heightened international pressure.
That pressure is now being amplified beyond Iran's borders. The weekend capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a surprise U.S. nighttime operation adds to the regime's concerns.
Venezuela has long served as a critical lifeline for the Mullahs, allowing the regime to bypass sanctions to fund its armed proxies in their war on Israel. Hezbollah in Lebanon has also benefited by using Venezuela to raise funds through criminal and narcotics ties. --->READ MORE HERE
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