The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Esmaeil Baqaei, reiterated this Monday the condemnation of the military actions of the United States in Latin America and the Caribbean, and asserted that no country has the right to violate the sovereignty or territorial integrity of another.
During a press conference, the spokesperson was asked about Tehran’s position regarding Washington’s threats against South American countries. “Our official position has been repeatedly announced: we strongly condemn the United States military movements in the Caribbean and Latin American region, and consider them detrimental to international peace and security,” he emphasized.
Furthermore, he stressed that the argument of USA on the fight against drug trafficking has been “proven on numerous occasions and lacks legal validity” and stressed that “no country is authorized, under the mere pretext of combating organized transnational crimes, including drug trafficking, to violate the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of another country,” he asserted.
The official added that even the 1988 Convention on Combating Drug Trafficking explicitly states that “such actions cannot be considered an authorization to violate the national sovereignty of States.”
Likewise, he warned that the threats directed against Venezuela and other countries in the region are contrary to the principles of the United Nations Charter and the prohibition of the use of force, and can set a dangerous precedent in the international arena.
“Recently, we have also witnessed a similar threat against Nigeria,” Baqaei said in reference to the threat made by US President Donald Trump, who ordered the Pentagon begin planning a possible military action, accusing the Nigerian Government of allowing the mass murder of Christians, of which it did not show any evidence.
“This trend constitutes a serious threat to international peace and security, not only in Latin America, but in any other region of the world,” the spokesperson warned.
Previously, Baqaei had already denounced the repercussions of Washington’s “growing acts of illegality and aggressive unilateralism” for global peace and stability, condemning the attacks carried out against vessels in the region, identified by the US as allegedly having links to drug trafficking.
On repeated occasions, Venezuelan authorities have denounced the threat posed by the US military deployment in the Caribbean, stating that the objective is a change of government and the theft of the country’s natural wealth, mainly oil.
