TEHRAN- Iran asserts that the U.S. threat to re-impose sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry is illegal under international law and the UN Charter.

Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, denounced on Thursday the U.S.’s instrumental use of sanctions as a weapon to meddle in the internal affairs of other nations.

“Resorting to such measures is tantamount to direct intervention in the internal affairs of countries and a violation of the United Nations Charter,” he added. 

The Iranian spokesperson issued a warning, stating that such actions would only serve to fortify independent nations’ resolve and collaboration in opposing interventionist measures.

Days after the top court in that South American nation upheld the disqualification of an opposition presidential candidate, the U.S. vowed on Monday to re-impose sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry.

U.S. corporations who do business with Venezuela’s state-owned mining company Minerven have until February 13 to finish a “winddown of transactions” with the company, according to a statement released by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden responded to an agreement made by the government and opposition groups for the 2024 elections by largely easing sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry.

The opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was banned for 15 years on Friday by the Venezuelan Supreme Court, which also ruled that her potential replacement, two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, was ineligible.