Iran and Venezuela, BFF

“That hill [in front of Venezuela’s presidential Miraflores Palace] will open up and a big atomic bomb will come out.”

— President Hugo Chavez, in company of visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Caracas, Jan. 9, 2012.

At this, both presidents chuckled. And then Chavez continued: “[T]he imperialist spokesmen say . . . Ahmadinejad and I are going into the Miraflores basement now to set our sights on Washington and launch cannons and missiles. . . . It’s laughable.”

There is nothing laughable about this friendship, however. It is high time that the international community took seriously the threat that the Iranian-Venezuelan axis poses for the security of the United States and its allies.

At a time when the world is rightly focused on the Iranian nuclear threat and its intentions against Israel, it is also important to not lose sight of that country’s clandestine dealings in Latin America. Its activities there serve multiple purposes. None of them is benign.

The trip to Latin America at the beginning of January came at a time of political turmoil for Ahmadinejad. The government’s brutal crackdown of the Green Movement after the 2009 elections has not been forgotten. In addition, there is also the aggravating factor of economic hardship, made acute by increasing international sanctions.

There is no better way to counter this international isolation, project strength and sign valuable trade agreements, than by visiting friends in the Western Hemisphere — namely, radical allies in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Cuba, all of whom harbor openly anti-American intentions.

Arguably, Chavez is Ahmadinejad’s best friend in the region. For years, Iran’s relations with Venezuela have blossomed. Their bilateral trade exceeds $40 billion, while Iran has reportedly entered into more than 150 energy, development, commercial and financial agreements with Venezuela.

And there are mysterious flights between both countries that do not accept open bookings. These are widely believed not only to transport illicit goods and weaponry, but also to carry Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps officers and even Hezbollah operatives.

According to a German report, both countries agreed in 2010 on the establishment of a jointly operated military base in Venezuela, as well as on the joint development of ground-to-ground missiles.

The regime in Caracas has also agreed on allowing a joint military base where Iranian Shihab 3 and Scud missiles will be deployed. Venezuela could thus become a base from where Iran is able to strike (militarily and through terrorist proxies) at America.

Moreover, the country is also a main supplier of uranium for Iran’s nuclear program. Both countries are conducting explorations in remote areas near the Guyanese border for additional uranium deposits. That, of course, circumvents sanctions meant to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapon capabilities.

And then there’s the matter of Iran’s support of terrorist groups whose ultimate goal is asymmetric warfare. It is well known that Hezbollah, its “terrorist subcontractor,” has set up cells and networks all over Latin America, using the cocaine trade to fund its operations.

Many experts believe that other terrorist groups could be hiding out in South America as well.

Even in the area of “soft power,” Iran continues to increase its footprint in the Americas in other ways. In January, Iran launched “Hispan TV,” a Spanish-language channel airing from the Middle East with a lineup of news, documentaries, movies and Iranian films.

This is all exceedingly troubling. Only this week, a concerned Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a House panel that the Iranian threat could reach U.S. soil, calling Hezbollah’s activities a “critical situation worth watching.”

As one analyst has put it, Iran is convinced that the Western Hemisphere is an increasingly important arena where it can wield its influence — and diminish America’s.

As for Chavez’s joke about a potential Iranian-Venezuelan aggression against the West? Given the many real dangers these two rogue regimes working in concert represent, it is really no laughing matter.

Baitel is a fellow at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.