Hemispheric securityNew air link evidence of Iran's growing influence in Venezuela
This month’s re-opening of an air link between Tehran and Caracas as the latest evidence of Iran’s growing role alongside Russia and Cuba in bolstering the multilayered security apparatus keeping Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in power.
Meeting between Putin and Iran's Ali Khamenei // Source: kremlin.ru
Analysts see this month’s re-opening of an air link between Tehran and Caracas as the latest evidence of Iran’s growing role alongside Russia and Cuba in bolstering the multilayered security apparatus keeping Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in power. Mahan Air, a private airline sanctioned by the United States for its links with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), initiated flights between Tehran and Caracas last week, according to Iranian civil aviation officials who announced the initiation of the air route when a Mahan airliner landed in Caracas on April 8.
“Unless Iran has suddenly become a source of tourists, this is another reason why the regime of Maduro has become a threat to the security of the U.S.,” tweeted Senator Marco Rubio, who has major input into the Trump administration’s Latin American policy.
Spokesmen for Iran’s civil aviation organization have told the official Mehr news agency that the Mahan airliner carried high-level foreign ministry officials and airline executives.
IRGC Quds Force officers have worked with diplomatic cover at Iran’s large embassy in Caracas, providing intelligence and other assistance to the Venezuelan government, according to Pentagon reports.
The United States imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011, saying it provided financial and other support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards, which the State Department designated as a terrorist organization last week. France and Germany banned the airline’s flights earlier this year, accusing it of transporting military equipment and personnel to Syria and other regional war zones.
Iran operated regular flights between Teheran and Caracas with stopovers in Syria’s capital Damascus about 10 years ago, when the two governments were exchanging state visits and signing a series of cooperation agreements. The flights were suspended after the U.S. voiced suspicions about passengers and cargo being offloaded at a special VIP section of Venezuela’s Simon Bolivar airport with no customs or immigration checks.
Iran joined Russia, Cuba and Turkey in declaring support for Maduro after President Donald Trump withdrew U.S. recognition from his government and threw his weight behind parliamentary leader Juan Guaido in February. The U.S. administration has toughened sanctions and threatened to intervene militarily to topple the Maduro administration.
