Venezuela – Iran – Hezbollah: The Other Axis of Evil

The “zombie” regime in Tehran feeds on the blood of its own people, held hostage for 47 years. Cornered by a massive popular uprising that follows at least five street rebellions in recent years, it now kills on a large scale in a bid to survive and will only fall if it is itself eliminated.

The stakes are immense and go far beyond Iran itself.

Over the past four decades, the clerical regime had established itself as the spearhead of a new global Islamic conquest, beginning with the encirclement of Israel by the so‑called “Axis of Resistance,” built at great cost by the Revolutionary Guards, encompassing Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.

But October 7, triggered by Hamas—an Iranian ally armed by Tehran—backfired on its sponsor. Not only were Hamas and Gaza reduced to ruins by Israel’s relentless response, but Bashar al‑Assad’s Syria fell, leading to the destruction by Israel of much of Hezbollah’s infrastructure, command structure, and fighters in Lebanon. Even more serious, the head of the octopus was struck in the Twelve‑Day War, with significant portions of the country’s military and nuclear potential destroyed by Israel and the United States.

The dramatic abduction of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro by U.S. special forces on January 3 has opened a new breach in another network—less well known but equally vital to Tehran: the South American network linking Venezuela, Iran, and Hezbollah.
Highlighted by “Project Cassandra,” led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) beginning in 2008, the Caracas–Tehran–Beirut triangle appears to have been set up the year before, in 2007, during Maduro’s trip to Damascus. Then Venezuela’s foreign minister under Chávez, Maduro secretly met in a hotel with one of the leaders of Hezbollah Unit 910, responsible for external operations. Over time, a range of Hezbollah activities appeared in Caracas: drug trafficking, arms trafficking, money laundering, passports, intelligence—based on a large Lebanese‑Syrian diaspora arriving since 1975 and protected by diplomatic cover at the highest levels: first Chávez, then even more so under Maduro.

From 2010 on, shipments of cocaine and weapons were flown by the national airline Conviasa to Damascus and Tehran. Thousands of passports, visas, and internet IDs were distributed to Middle Eastern nationals under the direction of a close Maduro ally, Tarek El‑Aissami. El‑Aissami—once oil minister and later vice president—was sanctioned by the United States. Hezbollah fighters in fatigues and carrying long arms trained on Margarita Island, a duty‑free zone that also serves as a financial platform for Hezbollah.

According to a detailed Atlantic Council study published in 2020, El‑Aissami also arranged for Iranian experts to assist in maintaining Venezuela’s oil facilities, which had deteriorated significantly under Chávez due to his nationalizations, which expelled most U.S. majors (except Chevron, still present). A barter system of “gold for gasoline and condensates” delivered by Tehran was set up, with at least nine tons of gold flown by Mahan Air, one of many companies controlled by the Revolutionary Guards. A supermarket called “Megasis,” also owned by the Guards, was even opened in Caracas. This is not to mention Mohajer‑6 drones delivered by Tehran, cooperation to evade oil sanctions on both countries, and the crypto trafficking exposed by the Financial Times in December 2025.
While these elements will surely be explored at Maduro’s trial in New York, it is premature to declare this network dead. The triangle remains in place: the Chavista apparatus still rules in Caracas, and Hezbollah in Lebanon has not disarmed. In the end, everything will depend on Tehran, where the butchers are still at work…

Pierre Lellouche
January 14, 2026