MOSCOW, January 26. /TASS/. The United States’ policy toward Iran and Venezuela proves that Washington doesn’t respect anyone’s national sovereignty, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali said in an article for the Kommersant daily.
"The developments in early 2026, including illegal actions against the Venezuelan president and organized acts of terror geared to destabilize Iran (January 2026), constitute vivid examples of the violation of the United Nations Charter and the prevalence of the logic of force over the supremacy of law. These naked manifestations of the 'engineering destruction' prove that Washington and its allies respect national sovereignty only as long as this serves its hegemony," the Iranian diplomat stated.
According to Jalali, the present-day world is faced with a fundamental problem that can be described as a dangerous transition from the rules-based order to a "force paradigm," a situation when undisguised force has effectively replaced the norms of international law, and legal norms are interpreted solely to reinforce the hegemony of the dominant powers.
"Meanwhile, the United States’ interventionist approaches have spawned cycles of violence and weakened national structures, creating a breeding ground for chronic instability and systemic anarchy," the ambassador emphasized. "When the strategy of 'regime change' becomes part of official political doctrine and cross-border sanctions are used as coercive instruments of diplomacy, the concept of 'the supremacy of law' in international relations is seriously undermined."
In such an environment, in his words, "national security of countries is predetermined not on the basis of lawful agreements but on the basis of geopolitical priorities of Western interventionist powers." History teaches that deviations from law and order cannot bring peace but only "jeopardize security of the entire system through creating hotbeds of chaos," he pointed out.
On January 3, the United States attacked civilian and military facilities in Caracas. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto condemned Washington’s actions as a military aggression. A state of emergency has been imposed in Venezuela. Trump confirmed the attack on Venezuela. He also said that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife had been captured and taken out of the country.
Unrest in Iran began on December 29 after street protests triggered by a sharp fall in the Iranian rial exchange rate, and spread to most major cities. Authorities reported the deaths of 40 law enforcement officers. According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, armed terrorists appeared among the demonstrators on January 8. The Iranian authorities blamed Israel and the United States for organizing the unrest.