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Rogue States as Terror Platforms: The Multi-Dimensional Threat to American and Western Security
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Dr. Dan Diker - Iran's Revolutionary Guards are significantly involved in the international drug trade, both directly and through proxies like Hizbullah. This provides the organization with access to sources of financing that bypass international sanctions placed on the Iranian regime, as well as sophisticated operational platforms that support subversive efforts aimed at the West. A defector from Iran's Revolutionary Guards revealed the strategic intent behind this drug trafficking: "We were told that the drugs will destroy the sons and daughters of the West, and that we must kill them. Their lives are worth less because they are not Muslims." Emanuele Ottolenghi, an expert on Iranian operations in Latin America at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, notes: "The Iranians made Caracas the hub of all their propaganda and soft power operations in the region, including their Spanish-language 24/7 news network." Iran established a permanent presence in Caracas for its missionary network under the umbrella of the sanctioned Al-Mustafa International University. Venezuelan President Maduro, during a 2022 visit to Tehran, declared Venezuela part of the "resistance axis" that "exists throughout the world; it exists in Africa, in Asia, in the Middle East, in Latin America, and in the Caribbean." Largely driven by narcotics trafficking, Hizbullah operatives can move to and from Venezuela discretely and many have roots in Venezuela's one million-strong Lebanese community. Iran has provided Venezuela with Peykaap fastboats armed with anti-ship missiles and UAVs that can be used for both drug smuggling and military operations in the Caribbean. The Rand Corporation warns that "these Iranian weapon systems present a legitimate threat to maritime security in the Caribbean region." Iranian military advisers have helped transform Venezuela into what Ottolenghi describes as a "forward operating base" against the U.S. The writer is President of the Jerusalem Center.