Iran says a threat by the United States to reinstate sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector runs counter to the UN Charter and international law.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani on Thursday condemned the US instrumental use of sanctions as a tool to interfere in other countries’ affairs.
“Resorting to such measures is tantamount to direct intervention in the internal affairs of countries and a violation of the United Nations Charter,” he said.
The Iranian spokesman warned that the continuation of such acts would strengthen the will and cooperation of independent countries to resist interventionist policies.
The US on Monday threatened to restore sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, days after the South American nation’s top court upheld the disqualification of an opposition presidential hopeful.
A statement by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said any US companies doing business with Venezuela’s state-owned mining Minerven have until February 13 to complete a “wind down of transactions” with the company.
US President Joe Biden’s administration broadly eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector in response to a deal reached between the government and opposition parties for the 2024 elections.
On Friday, Venezuela’s Supreme Court upheld a 15-year ban on opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and also confirmed the ineligibility of her possible replacement, two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles.
