Rubio says no more Iran, Hezbollah presence in Venezuela

“We’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries of the United States.”

By World Israel News Staff

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio underscored what he described as the long-standing Iran–Hezbollah footprint in Venezuela in a series of interviews following Washington’s dramatic operation against the Venezuelan regime, framing the issue as a core national security concern for the United States and the wider Western Hemisphere.

Speaking Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation, Rubio said the operation reflected a broader U.S. effort to prevent hostile foreign powers and terror organizations from establishing strategic footholds in the Americas.

He described Venezuela as a country that, despite its vast natural wealth, had aligned itself with Iran and Hezbollah while allowing narco-trafficking networks to operate freely.

“This is the Western Hemisphere,” Rubio said. “We’re not going to have a country like Venezuela in our own hemisphere serving as a crossroads for Hezbollah, for Iran, and for every other malign influence in the world. That’s just not going to exist.”

Rubio pointed to the regional consequences of Venezuela’s collapse under former president Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro, noting that more than eight million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2014 in what he described as the largest mass migration event in modern history. He said the exodus was inseparable from the regime’s corruption, criminal activity, and foreign alliances.

In a separate interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Rubio said Washington’s position toward Venezuela was rooted in preventing hostile powers from gaining a foothold in the Western Hemisphere, particularly Iran and Hezbollah.

“We don’t need Venezuela’s oil. We have plenty of oil in the United States,” Rubio said. “What we’re not going to allow is for the oil industry in Venezuela to be controlled by adversaries of the United States.”

Questioning the involvement of foreign powers in the region, Rubio added, “Why does China need their oil? Why does Russia need their oil? Why does Iran need their oil? They’re not even in this continent.”

He said the issue went beyond energy and directly touched on U.S. security. “This is the Western Hemisphere. This is where we live, and we’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors, and rivals of the United States. It’s as simple as that.”

Rubio has made similar warnings for months. In an interview with Fox News’ Hannity in December, he described Venezuela as a “source of instability in the entire region,” emphasizing that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah had established an anchor presence there with the cooperation of the Maduro regime. “Where Iran has planted its flag in our hemisphere is on Venezuelan territory,” Rubio said at the time.

Asked then whether Washington was moving toward regime change in both Venezuela and Iran, Rubio stopped short of declaring that as policy but cast doubt on Maduro’s credibility.

He said any deal with the Venezuelan leader would be difficult, arguing that Maduro had “broken every deal he’s ever made,” while stressing that a Venezuela no longer serving as a hub for Iranian influence, drug trafficking, or transnational gangs would be a major gain for hemispheric security.

Tehran reacted sharply to the U.S. operation in Venezuela, with Iranian officials moving quickly to defend their alliance with Caracas.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said Monday that Iran’s relations with Venezuela remained unchanged and were based on what he called “mutual respect.” He condemned the U.S. action as an “illegal act” and called for the release of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, saying that “as the Venezuelan people have emphasized, their president must be released.”

Hezbollah also denounced the operation, condemning what it described as “the terrorist aggression and American thuggery against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” and declaring its “full solidarity with Venezuela — its people, presidency and government — in confronting this American aggression and arrogance.”

Taken together, the responses from Tehran and Hezbollah underscore the extent to which Venezuela has become intertwined with Iran and its regional allies. The episode highlights how developments in Caracas now reverberate far beyond Latin America, reflecting broader concerns over the presence and influence of Iranian-backed networks in the Western Hemisphere.

HezbollahIranMarco RubioNicolás MaduroVenezuela