The episode has prompted comparisons\u2014sometimes uneasy, sometimes fiercely rejected\u2014between Venezuela\u2019s trajectory and Iran\u2019s own.<\/p>\n
Strikes and protests have spread to dozens of Iranian cities in recent days, sharpening questions about economic exhaustion and public legitimacy.<\/p>\n
Former Iranian diplomat Fereydoun Majlesi told the Shargh newspaper that Maduro\u2019s detention reflected Washington\u2019s current logic: maximal displays of power and deterrence. \u201cMaduro\u2019s arrest was not just a political act but a deterrent message to other players,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Foreign policy analyst Ali Bigdeli also told Shargh that while a direct U.S. attack on Iran would require congressional approval, the Venezuela episode showed that covert actions or security pretexts remained possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout a serious revision of foreign policy and adaptation to new global conditions, continuing the old path will not only fail but impose greater costs,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n
\u2018Erosion of trust\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Even sources close to the establishment reflected unease, albeit more subtly.<\/p>\n Khabar Online, a moderate outlet close to security chief Ali Larijani, highlighted US sanctions on Venezuela while also pointing to mismanagement and corruption.<\/p>\n \u201cMaduro\u2019s fall was not the product of a single factor, but the outcome of accumulated crises long ignored,\u201d the commentary argued, landing on a phrase widely used in reference to Iran\u2019s own condition: \u201cerosion of public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n Political analyst Sadegh Maleki was more direct.<\/p>\n \u201cMaduro, like (Syria\u2019s) Assad, ruled without heartfelt popular backing,\u201d he told Shargh. \u201cGovernments that create distance between themselves and the people are more vulnerable to external operations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Not comparable\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Conservative voices, however, moved quickly to dismiss any analogy. Gholamreza Sadeghian, editor-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Javan daily, was blunt in his assessment. \u201cIran Is Not Comparable\u2014Don\u2019t Waste Your Time,\u201d he headlined his Sunday editorial.<\/p>\n Washington\u2019s threats, Sadeghian wrote, were not a sign of strength but part of a \u201crepetitive and failed spectacle,\u201d adding that \u201cAmerica neither has the capacity for final victory nor the ability to reshape the global order in its favor.\u201d<\/p>\n Hardline newspapers denounced the US action as an \u201copen kidnapping,\u201d a \u201cviolation of the UN Charter,\u201d and a \u201craid on Venezuela\u2019s oil.\u201d<\/p>\n Commentators argued that Washington\u2019s aim was to gain leverage over global energy markets and consolidate geopolitical influence by controlling the country\u2019s vast reserves.<\/p>\n The lesson, hardliners argued, was that Iran should never engage in talks with the United States, noting that Maduro was detained shortly after he signaled readiness to negotiate with Trump.<\/p>\n \u2018Military power not enough\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Kayhan newspaper, which is funded by the office of Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, claimed that Venezuelans had taken to the streets in support of Maduro and declared they would not allow their country to be occupied.<\/p>\n Ultraconservative lawmaker Javad Karimi-Ghodousi went further, predicting that Maduro would return to Venezuela \u201cas a hero.\u201d Trump, he added on X, would \u201cbe slapped by America\u2019s revolutionary youth and fall into the dustbin of history.\u201d<\/p>\n A more measured assessment came from the moderate outlet Rouydad24.<\/p>\n An editorial argued that the two countries\u2019 situations were fundamentally different and rejected \u201cfear of collapse,\u201d while still suggesting that Maduro\u2019s fate offered a lesson for Tehran on the need to address economic and social demands.<\/p>\n \u201cVenezuela showed that even military structures cannot endure without sustainable social backing,\u201d the site wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The episode has prompted comparisons\u2014sometimes uneasy, sometimes fiercely rejected\u2014between Venezuela\u2019s trajectory and Iran\u2019s own. Strikes and protests have…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":499366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[83,196617,196615,196614,3461,196616,5962,6111,196613,8441,99,3097,50,162383],"class_list":{"0":"post-499365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-iran","9":"tag-iran-and-china","10":"tag-iran-covid","11":"tag-iran-economy","12":"tag-iran-government","13":"tag-iran-media-iran-and-the-united-states","14":"tag-iran-news","15":"tag-iran-nuclear","16":"tag-iran-politics","17":"tag-iran-us","18":"tag-israel","19":"tag-middle-east","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-us-sanctions"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115854933256927731","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}