Monday, January 05, 2026

Iran’s friends vanishing: Why Maduro’s arrest matters for Israel - analysis

Recommendable! Yes, the pressure on Iran increased this weekend!

"... Yes, the spectacle of a US-led operation removing a defiant anti-American autocrat will inevitably sharpen anxieties among Iran’s leaders about their own vulnerabilities, especially at a time when protests are roiling the country.

But further meaning is found elsewhere, in the dismantling of yet another supporting pillar in the global network Iran painstakingly constructed to finance, shield, and sustain its war against Israel. Venezuela was never an Iranian proxy in the way Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, or Bashar al-Assad’s Syria were.

Caracas was not directly under Tehran’s thumb and operational command, nor did it host Iranian forces on the scale seen in the Middle East. Yet, through Hezbollah, Venezuela became something no less important to the ayatollahs – a critical offshore hub that generated cash, laundered funds, moved operatives, and enabled Iran to project power far from the Mideast. ..."

Why Maduro’s arrest matters for Israel | The Jerusalem Post "While Venezuela was not an Iranian proxy in the Syrian or Hezbollah mold, it functioned as an enabler, providing funds that helped sustain Iran’s proxies."

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