Iran's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva condemned the US's "hostile" policies toward Venezuela, arguing they violated international law and the UN charter, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Wednesday.
Ali Bahreini added that the US's actions posed "a serious threat to international peace and security."
Bahreini, in his speech, also denounced what IRNA referred to as "years of illegal sanctions, unilateral coercive measures, and Washington's efforts to overthrow" the government, including assassination attempts.
Bahreini claimed that the US's deployment of a fleet, including a nuclear submarine, is an open threat to Venezuela's "political independence and territorial integrity," IRNA noted.
He added that threatening a non-nuclear party with a nuclear submarine constitutes a "grave blow to disarmament and non-proliferation."
Iran, Venezuela's close ties
Iran's Ambassador to Venezuela, Ali Chegini, conveyed a message of support to the Latin American country on Tuesday, an act praised by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto, according to Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf spoke with his Venezuelan counterpart, Jorge Rodriguez, on Saturday, Mehr added.
In their conversation, Ghalibaf called Venezuela a "friend and ally," and condemned the US's "pretexts against Venezuela and its adventurism in the Caribbean."
Ghalibaf also affirmed that the Israel-Iran war and US threats against Venezuela should not disrupt any bilateral agreements, and urged deeper bilateral cooperation, Mehr noted. Notably, Ghalibaf visited Caracas and met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in June.
Iran and Venezuela maintain close relations, which have been strengthened further by the signing of a free trade agreement in June. At the time, IRNA cited Iranian officials as saying that this agreement will allow Iran and Venezuela to become each other's trade base in the Americas and Asia, respectively.
In addition, in November 2024, the two countries signed two cooperation agreements amid the 10th meeting of the Iran-Venezuela Joint Economic Cooperation Commission. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Tasnim News Agency clarified that these agreements covered a visa exemption deal and a memorandum on technology transfer and artificial intelligence training.
"From Venezuela and Iran, we say yes to freedom, to open dialogue between peoples and civilizations, to joint construction," Tasnim cited Maduro as saying at the time.
"Iran and Venezuela are friends and brothers in a single boat carrying the destiny of both countries amid existing threats. Imperialism always seeks to dominate free and sovereign peoples and is upset by the cooperation between our countries that seek a world free of hegemony," the outlet cited then-Iranian defense minister Amir Nasirzadeh, who led the delegation to Caracas, as saying.
Notably, both countries are oil-rich and are both founding members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
What has the US done that has angered Iran, Venezuela?
One of the recent actions taken by Washington against Venezuela, which Iran is reacting to, includes the US military attacking a vessel from Venezuela in the Caribbean on Tuesday that was carrying illegal drugs, according to US officials, in the first known operation since the Trump administration's recent surge of warships to the region, according to Reuters.
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House: "We just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat."
Maduro, in turn, claimed on Monday that eight US military vessels, armed with 1,200 missiles, were targeting his country in an act he denounced as an "absolutely criminal, bloody threat," Le Monde and Agence France-Presse reported.
In addition, the US State and Justice Departments increased the award for the conviction of Maduro to $50 million for violating US narcotics laws, on August 7, alleging that he is the leader of a Venezuelan cartel that the Treasury Department designated in July, which angered the Latin American country.
US Attorney-General Pam Bondi said that Maduro is "one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world and a threat to the national security” of the US, according to a CNN report.
Trump, on Wednesday, claimed that Venezuela "has been a very bad actor," Reuters reported.
Iranian ambassador denounces June's Israeli-US airstrikes on Iran
Bahraini also denounced the Israeli-US airstrikes on Iran, including nuclear facilities, in June as "further proof of Washington's disregard for diplomacy."