JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The U.S. military operation in Venezuela is having ripple effects a world away. Israel praised the attack, hoping this could be another pressure point on Iran and one of its proxies, Hezbollah, which had deep ties with Nicolas Maduro's government. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports on the potential impact on the Middle East.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Reichman University professor Meir Javedanfar has been glued to social media, watching the protest movement in Iran, where he was born, from Tel Aviv, where he lives now. We meet in a cafe near his home.
MEIR JAVEDANFAR: It's a very special time to be Iranian Israeli. My Iranian compatriots in Tehran are risking their life and going to the streets to fight to have democracy. And, meanwhile, me and many of my Israeli compatriots are going every week to protest to maintain our liberal democracy, which is under threat from the current government.
KELEMEN: But while he's a critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's domestic policies, Javedanfar backs Israel's tough position on Iran, and he thinks the operation in Venezuela could add more pressure on the Iranian regime. He says the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah made money in the drug trade from Venezuela to Europe, which meant it relied a bit less on Iranian handouts in recent years.
JAVEDANFAR: That's going to go. I don't think the Americans are going to stand for it. So that means that Hezbollah is now going to become even more dependent on Iran for its income. And I think this comes at a very precarious time for Iran's economy.
KELEMEN: And the protest movement in Iran is all about the economy.
JAVEDANFAR: The Iranian economy is so maligned, it is so sick, it is so bedridden with the problem of inflation that even if the current protests end, it's not going to solve it.
KELEMEN: Iranians in exile are worried about a crackdown on protesters while the world is focusing on Venezuela. President Trump has warned Iran that the U.S. is, quote, "locked and loaded" if the Iranians kill peaceful protesters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just back from a meeting with Trump, says he thinks the Iranian people are taking their fate in their own hands. His spokesperson, Shosh Bedrosian, says Netanyahu was also pleased with the operation to oust Maduro in Venezuela.
SHOSH BEDROSIAN: The foreign ministry has actually said that Venezuela has destabilized the region there, serving as a base for Hezbollah terror operatives and hosting Iranian weapons production facilities.
KELEMEN: But she wouldn't say if Israel has been given any assurances from the Trump administration or from the remnants of the Maduro regime that they will break ranks with Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also wouldn't describe his conversations about this with the Venezuelans, but he told NBC's "Meet The Press" that the U.S. expects Venezuela to stop cozying up to Hezbollah and Iran.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MEET THE PRESS")
MARCO RUBIO: You can't turn Venezuela into the operating hub for Iran, for Russia, for Hezbollah, for China, for the Cuban intelligence agents that control that country. That cannot continue.
KELEMEN: Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran are among those condemning the U.S. military action in Venezuela and what they call a kidnapping of President Maduro. Hezbollah's statement accused the U.S. of, quote, "a hegemonic, arrogant and piracy-driven approach" to the world in support of its protege, Israel. The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee says taking down Maduro is good news for the Middle East, half a world away.
Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
