TEHRAN – Iran has warned that the recent surge in US military activity across the Caribbean and Latin America threatens regional stability and undermines international peace, urging Washington to respect Venezuela’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement on Saturday that US threats to use force against Venezuela’s internationally recognized government represent a clear breach of international law. He added that the move violates core principles of the UN Charter, including the right of nations to self-determination and the prohibition on the use of force under Article 2(4).

Citing findings from various international organizations, Baqaei condemned US attacks on Venezuelan fishing boats, calling them as unlawful actions amounting to extrajudicial killings. He criticized the United States for “misusing counter-narcotics operations” as a cover for violating Venezuela’s borders and interfering in its internal affairs.

Baqaei also stressed that the United Nations and its Secretary-General must act to prevent policies that endanger global peace and encourage unilateral aggression.

Since August, the United States has deployed warships and thousands of troops to the Caribbean, saying the mission targets Latin American drug cartels. US forces claim to have carried out at least 20 strikes on alleged trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing 80 people—operations that human rights groups have denounced as extrajudicial killings.

US military activity in the region has continued to expand. In late September, five F-35 fighter jets were seen landing in Puerto Rico after President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of 10 of the aircraft to reinforce the US presence in the Caribbean. Washington has also sent the USS Gerald R. Ford—the world’s largest aircraft carrier—along with five destroyers to the region, prompting Venezuela to place its forces on heightened alert and dispatch ships, drones, and warplanes.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has rejected US allegations of drug trafficking involvement, saying Washington is using the accusations as a pretext for a regime-change agenda and to seize control of the country’s vast oil reserves.