The alliance linking Iran and its proxies, the Shi'ite jihadist group Hezbollah, and the dictatorships of Cuba and Venezuela, is now in disarray, a year after an attack by another Iranian terrorist proxy sparked an ongoing war in Iran. continues to pose a threat to the United States in the region. middle east.
Experts have long condemned Iran is pursuing a decades-long plan to expand its influence in the region by brokering alliances through “cooperation agreements” with countries led by far-left governments in multiple areas, including military and economic. Recently, and most alarmingly, Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for Safe and Free Societies (SFS), was involved in the Bolivian case. I will explain It is cited as Iran's “most successful project” in the region.
Hezbollah has maintained a presence in the region for decades, attacking Israeli targets in Argentina on behalf of Iran in the 1990s. Hezbollah is person in charge The Argentine-Israel Mutual Association (AMIA) bombing in 1994 and the Israeli embassy bombing in Buenos Aires in 1992. The 1994 AMIA bombing was the deadliest terrorist attack in the Western Hemisphere before the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The Venezuelan and Cuban regimes share a long-standing and deeply anti-American and anti-Israel ideological relationship with Iran. Relations between these regimes and Iran have been revitalized in recent years through exchanges of official visits by heads of state. visit Socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro will visit Tehran in 2022. Late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited Tehran. region In June 2023, Cuba's figurehead “President'' Miguel Diaz-Canel visited Iran. december.
Both countries have recently support He referred to Iran's recent missile attack on Israel, justifying it as “Iran's legitimate defense against the threats and crimes of the Israeli regime.”
In the case of Venezuela, Iran gained a firm foothold in the country after socialist dictator Hugo Chávez came to power in the Bolivarian Revolution in 1999. Chávez and former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held several meetings. encounter Ahmadinejad often repeated This is support for Venezuela, which is “confronting imperialism'' and that is, for the United States.
Raishi claimed In June 2023, Iran and Venezuela announced that they have a “strategic relationship” with “common interests, views” and “enemies.” Alliance between Venezuela and Iranopened' is a gateway to increasing Hezbollah's presence in the region.
President Maduro confirmed his regime's military cooperation with Iran during his 2022 visit to Tehran. At that time, both countries signed Extensive cooperation agreement spanning 20 years. In March, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned Iran's growing military influence in Venezuela and the presence of military assets that pose a direct threat to U.S. cities within Iranian attack range, such as Miami and Florida.
“The Venezuelan military has added armed drones to its inventory for the first time courtesy of Iran. Iranian precision-guided short-range missiles were also shipped, presumably to equip the drones,” Humire said in February. “It's all being delivered under the guise of commercial cargo shipments. Just like in Yemen, this was Iran's modus operandi. Now we're seeing it in the region.”
It is widely believed that Tarek El Aissami, a former disciple of Hugo Chávez, was in charge. contact between the socialist regime and the Shia jihadists. El Aissami, actively I wanted it He was arrested by the United States on multiple drug trafficking charges and held several high-ranking positions in the Venezuelan regime until his retirement. purged He was arrested by President Maduro in 2023 under the guise of an “anti-corruption investigation” and is accused of stealing $3 billion in oil revenues from the Venezuelan state treasury.
some reports published In 2017, El Aissami was accused of providing a Venezuelan passport – often very harshly difficult What is available to Venezuelans, what is available to Hezbollah members during his tenure as Minister of the Interior. El Aissami too I believed It allowed members of Hezbollah to infiltrate Venezuela and provided protection to Shiite jihadists as they turned to drug-trafficking businesses in the region.
After the collapse of socialism in Venezuela in the 2010s, Venezuela's Maduro regime became increasingly dependent on Iranian aid. Since then, the Islamic regime has provided a variety of support to the Venezuelan regime, giving it significant aid and helping it survive amid the country's ongoing collapse. oil As shortages spread in 2020, repair A dilapidated refinery in Venezuela purification Own Iranian oil located within Venezuelan territory.
In return, the Maduro regime, in addition to allowing Iran to continue to increase its presence in the country through a 20-year cooperation agreement. talented A supermarket chain where socialists have usurped the individual entrepreneurship of Iranian individuals with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Venezuela too gave In 2022, 1 million hectares of land will be transferred to the Islamic regime.
In the case of Cuba, the U.S. specified State Sponsor of Terrorism — The communist Castro regime established relations with Iran in 1979 with the advent of the Islamic Revolution. During Raisi's visit to Havana in 2023, Miguel Diaz-Canel swore He said he would continue the communist regime's fight against “Yankee imperialism” with Iran and said the late Iranian president's visit was evidence of “common values” between the two countries.
“You visited three Latin American countries with important ties to the Iranian revolution: Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba,” Diaz-Canel said at the time. “These countries, along with Iran, have had to stand heroically with tenacious resistance against the sanctions, pressure, threats, blockades, and interference of Yankee imperialism and its allies.”
He added: “This visit has strengthened our belief that Iran is a friend in the Middle East and that we can open up and discuss the most complex global issues.”
hezbollah direct expressed There was support for the Castro regime during Cuba's historic wave of anti-communist protests in July 2021. At the time, tens of thousands of people took to the streets demanding an end to more than 60 years of communist rule.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan writer who chronicles life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
