Iran condemns US’ ‘illegal interventions’ in Venezuela’s internal affairs

Tehran: Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has condemned the US “illegal interventions” in Venezuela’s internal affairs.

He made the remarks in a post on Saturday on social media platform X while reacting to a post earlier this week by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said his government recognised Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the South American country’s “president-elect”.

“We condemn illegal interventions by the United States and some of its allies in Venezuela’s internal affairs, which is reminiscent of (the) malign and divisive interventions of 2019 via recognition of a parallel government (in the country), and express our solidarity with Venezuela’s legitimate and elected president Nicolas Maduro,” said Baghaei.

Baghaei said Iran considered any foreign intervention in Venezuela’s internal affairs as contrary to international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter and a blow to peace and stability in the South American country, Xinhua news agency reported.

On July 29, Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of Venezuela’s presidential election after securing 51.2 per cent of the votes in the election held on July 28.

The US has maintained a policy of economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation against Maduro’s government.