The United States’ measures in the Caribbean and Latin America, particularly its latest military activities targeting Venezuela, are destabilizing and tension-provoking, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said.
The US military has conducted four lethal strikes in the Caribbean following its buildup of naval forces, part of what President Donald Trump has described as an “armed conflict” against drug cartels.
The Venezuelan government insists that Washington is using the fight against drug trafficking merely as a pretext for its military operation.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman disputed the Trump administration’s claim that the targets were drug cartels, saying the US was actually attacking “fishing boats.”
He warned about the consequences of what he called Washington's continued lawlessness and aggressive unilateralism for global peace and stability.
The government of Nicolás Maduro, a close ally of Tehran, on Thursday urged the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency session over recent US military operations in waters near Venezuela’s coast, citing “mounting threats” from Washington following the US strikes.
Venezuela submitted the request in a letter to Russia’s ambassador to the UN and current Security Council president, Vassily Nebenzia, accusing the Trump administration of attempting to overthrow President Maduro and of endangering “peace, security, and stability at the regional and international levels.”
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman urged the UN Security Council and the Secretary-General to pay immediate attention to what he called the dangerous situation created by the United States’ insistence on illegal interference in the internal affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, a sovereign member of the United Nations.
He also denounced the US threats to use force against Venezuela’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, calling these actions a blatant violation of the principles of the UN Charter and the fundamental rules of international law, according to a foreign ministry statement.