Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. (File photo)
Iran has condemned the “interventionist” policies of the United States against Venezuela, after Washington doubled its bounty on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“The interventionist behavior and rhetoric of US officials in the internal affairs of sovereign States, including Venezuela, have unprecedentedly been undermining the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international law,” the Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on its X account on Friday.
On Thursday, the United States set a staggering $50 million reward in what it called part of its ongoing efforts to combat international drug trafficking, a move Caracas sharply denounced as a political stunt.
“The United States’ offensive move in threatening the legitimate president of a UN member State and leveling baseless allegations against him reflects a growing addiction among US policymakers to militant unilateralism and unlawful coercive measures in pursuit of their illegitimate foreign policy objectives,” the ministry underlined.
According to the ministry, no responsible nation can “remain indifferent to this dangerous trend, which targets the collective normative and ethical foundations of the United Nations.”
It also expressed Iran’s “solidarity with the people and government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela” and condemned “US unlawful interventions in Venezuela’s domestic affairs.”
Over the past decade, successive US administrations have openly supported opposition figures, recognized parallel governments, and imposed sweeping sanctions aimed at ousting Maduro’s government.
In 2020, during Donald Trump’s first presidency, Maduro and several of his associates were indicted on federal drug charges. At that time, the US set a $15 million reward for his capture. The Biden administration later increased the amount to $25 million—equal to the reward once offered for Osama bin Laden—before Thursday’s dramatic doubling.
The bounty comes as just weeks ago, the Trump administration negotiated the release of 10 jailed Americans in Caracas in exchange for allowing Venezuelan deportees to return from El Salvador, a deal made amid Trump’s toughened immigration policy.
