AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Iran has sharply criticized a US claim declaring Venezuela’s airspace closed, describing it as a clear violation of international law and a direct threat to civil aviation safety.
In a statement on Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the announcement reflected a longstanding pattern of US hostility toward Venezuela’s sovereignty.
He described the measure as arbitrary, irresponsible, and devoid of legal basis.
Baqaei said Washington’s self-issued directive represented an unprecedented danger to international flight safety and risked undermining established global aviation rules.
He warned that no state has the authority to unilaterally shut another country’s airspace under international civil aviation law, a point echoed in diplomatic and aviation circles.
US President Donald Trump had earlier issued an informal warning on Truth Social, telling airlines and pilots to consider Venezuelan airspace “entirely closed.”
Venezuela dismissed the warning as politically motivated and aimed at further isolating the country rather than ensuring safety.
The government subsequently revoked the licenses of six foreign airlines that halted operations, accusing them of yielding to US pressure and contributing to “state terrorism.”
Venezuela’s civil aviation authority condemned the carriers last week, saying they had aligned themselves with US-backed destabilization efforts and followed “unilateral terror directives” instead of international legal obligations.
The dispute comes as US military activity in Latin American waters intensifies.
The USS Harry S. Truman strike group has been deployed to the Atlantic in recent months, part of a broader US militarization justified under counter-narcotics claims.
Since September, the US has carried out lethal maritime operations under that pretext, resulting in more than 80 deaths in Central and South American waters.
Baqaei said aviation safety must not be turned into a geopolitical instrument.
He added that Washington’s position only reinforces Venezuela’s moral standing as it seeks to defend legal order, peace, and regional stability.
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