TEHRAN – Iran's Foreign Ministry has strongly criticized the United States' actions towards Venezuela, specifically the increased reward offered for information that could help the U.S. government take President Nicolas Maduro captive. 

“The interventionist behavior and rhetoric of U.S. officials in the internal affairs of sovereign States, including Venezuela, have unprecedentedly been undermining the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international law,” the Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on its X account on Friday.

The U.S.'s justification for the bounty – framed as part of its ongoing efforts to combat international drug trafficking – has been dismissed by Caracas as a blatant political stunt. Iran echoed this sentiment, accusing the U.S. of employing “militant unilateralism and unlawful coercive measures” in pursuit of its “illegitimate foreign policy objectives.” 

The ministry stressed that no responsible nation can afford to remain indifferent to this dangerous trend, which targets “the collective normative and ethical foundations of the United Nations.”

This latest escalation comes against a backdrop of sustained U.S. pressure on Venezuela. For over a decade, successive U.S. administrations have openly backed defeated opposition figures, even recognized parallel governments, and imposed crippling sanctions aimed at toppling Maduro's government. 

The reward for Maduro's capture has seen a dramatic increase over recent years. Initially set at $15 million under the Trump administration, it was later raised to $25 million by the Biden administration, matching the reward once offered for Osama bin Laden. The current $50 million bounty, announced just weeks after the Trump administration negotiated a prisoner exchange with Venezuela, is seen as a telling sign of the increasingly hostile, interventionist, and illegal stance Washington has adopted.