Copy in clipboard...
FM slams US threats against Venezuela
“The US domineering and aggressive behavior is evident across the world,” Araghchi said on Thursday, referring to recent threats by American officials against Venezuela.
He added that the US only favors countries that serve its own interests and pursues a hostile policy in dealing with independent nations, Press TV reported.
This is how the US has treated the Islamic Republic of Iran for years, he emphasized.
The top Iranian diplomat said the international community condemns Washington’s threats against Caracas, expressing Tehran’s solidarity with the Venezuelan nation and government.
Araghchi noted that participants at the 19th Midterm Ministerial Meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, in October, had a consensus that US pressures and sanctions run counter to international rules and principles.
The United States has stepped up military deployments in the Caribbean under the guise of a counter-narcotics mission, sending warships, aircraft, and special operations forces close to the Venezuelan territory.
While US officials frame the moves as security operations, governments across Latin America warn the buildup resembles preparations for coercive regime-change efforts, citing recent US strikes on boats accused of drug activity.
US President Donald Trump, however, has played down the prospect of a direct war with Venezuela while threatening that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s “days are numbered.”
The US president has accused the Venezuelan leader of drug trafficking without presenting evidence. Maduro, in turn, says Washington is using narcotics allegations as a pretext to pursue Washington’s plan for a “regime change” and seize control of Venezuela’s oil wealth.
Meanwhile, Republicans in the US Senate have voted down legislation that would have required Trump to obtain congressional approval for any military attacks on Venezuela.
Fears are now growing that Trump will use the military deployment in the region – which includes thousands of US troops, a nuclear submarine and a group of warships accompanying the USS Gerald R Ford, the US Navy’s most sophisticated aircraft carrier – to launch an attack on Venezuela in a bid to oust Maduro.