TEHRAN – Cuba has faced a fate remarkably similar to Iran's in its encounters with the United States. Both nations are being punished simply for creating and preserving political and governing systems of their own choosing. Both have suffered heavy losses as a result of illegal U.S. sanctions and blockades. Now, it appears the two countries may once again face the same kind of U.S. behavior—this time on the battlefield.

After failing to topple the Iranian government in an illegal war that, in Donald Trump's own words, was supposed to last only a few days, concerns are mounting that Washington may launch another war, this time against Cuba. The goal would be to manufacture the image of victory it has failed to secure after more than 90 days of fighting in West Asia.

The Tehran Times sat down with Cuba's Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jorge Fernando Lefebre Nicolas, for an interview that was largely overshadowed by the long-standing U.S. sanctions against Cuba, as well as the looming threat of aggression against the Latin American island. The ambassador told the Tehran Times that if Cubans come under attack by the United States, they will do exactly what they have done since the 1960s: resist, and rally around their nation's flag.

Below is the full text of the interview, edited for clarity and conciseness:

Could you please give us a picture of what life in Cuba has become like for the people under the ever-tightening U.S. siege?

First, I want to thank the Tehran Times for giving me the opportunity to speak about these issues, which are among the most important of our time—what is happening now in Iran and Cuba. Both of our nations are under threat from the United States.

Everyone knows that for many years, ever since the beginning of our revolution in 1959, America has been targeting Cuba. They want to change Cuba’s political system and subjugate our population. They imposed a blockade, the first measures of which were issued in 1962. So, for more than 60 years, we have lived under U.S. sanctions. Today, those sanctions are worse than ever. In his first term in office, President Trump applied more than 200 sanctions on Cuba, making life extremely difficult for Cubans. Now, in his second term, he has continued along the same path. He has been in office for just one year, and he has already imposed nearly 20 to 30 additional sanctions.

But there are two sanctions that are the harshest. The first is related to Venezuela. After the U.S. administration effectively kidnapped the president of Venezuela—everyone knows Venezuela was a very close partner of Cuba and its oil supplier—the U.S. intervened in Venezuela. Then, the U.S. imposed a sanction threatening the entire world if any country sells oil to Cuba, even friendly nations. In other words, the U.S. will impose sanctions, punishments, and tariffs on any country that sells oil to Cuba. Can you imagine how a country can survive without any oil supply? This has been enforced for more than three months. Cuba has received no oil shipments except for one ship from Russia. Because of this, the situation in Cuba is extremely dire. Hospital generators are running out of fuel. Agriculture is paralyzed. Transportation across the country has ground to a halt. We are making every effort to keep the country alive and provide essential services, but it is true that this has created a terrible humanitarian situation in Cuba.

But the Trump administration was not satisfied with that. He applied another measure: sanctioning all countries and all companies that do business with Cuba. So, if you have a company in Cuba, or if you sell goods to Cuba, you will face sanctions in your own country. As a result, it has now become clear to the public that the blockade is not simply a matter of the United States against Cuba—it is no longer about just two countries, as the U.S. used to claim every year at the United Nations. The blockade now involves the entire world.

The Trump administration seems to be on a spree to create itself the image of a big victory through illegal acts. It abducted the Venezuelan president early this year, then seemingly emboldened by that illegal act, launched an all-out war against Iran to topple the government here. Are you worried that with his lack of success in bringing Iran to its knees, he would decide to launch a military aggression against Cuba?

The Iran war has been a complete political and strategic disaster for the United States. Because of that, the Trump administration now needs to make the world forget what happened in Iran—the humiliation that Iran has inflicted on the United States. So, he may try to divert the world's attention away from Iran and toward Cuba. The fact that he attacked Venezuela and found it relatively easy to intervene and kidnap its president may have made him think he can repeat that tactic anytime he wants.

At this moment, we are living on the edge because of economic sanctions and military pressure. The dangerous situation is that they are constantly fabricating pretexts. Every day, they invent a new justification to create a scenario for military action against Cuba. They assume that Cuba is in a weak position after a year of hardships and economic sanctions. But the truth is, the present American government and the people who make it up are not very clever. They have always lacked ethics, but right now, they are also not very clever.

If they attack Cuba—and I hope they don't—but if they do, they will only find fierce resistance from the Cuban people alongside their army. In Cuba, it's more or less like what you have seen here in Iran during these recent days: people in the streets supporting their political model, their army, their government, and honoring their martyrs.

Cuba is the same as Iran. The population supports their government and their people. We are like one. When we have to face the United States, we stand together as one. We have been doing so for many years—the blockade has been in place since 1961. As long as there is even one Cuban alive, we will never give up. So, we will face them, and we will fight if we must fight. 

Do you think that international organizations like the United Nations have done enough to protect independent nations like Iran and Cuba against the unilateral actions of the U.S.?

No, I do not.

The United Nations was created in 1945 after the Second World War with the aim of protecting peace and preventing war from happening again. But today, we have witnessed an abandonment of international law. We have one country—one superpower—that dictates its own law. And we have a U.S. president who says, "I don't care about international law. I only care about my law." How has the United Nations permitted one country to say that, to launch attacks, and to threaten the rest of the world without doing anything?

For nearly 80 years, the United Nations played a role and fulfilled its responsibilities. It prevented many wars, intervened in conflicts, and used diplomacy to stop or end wars. But we no longer see that. What we see now is one country with the pretension of dominating the rest of the world, while the United Nations remains silent.

Look at what has happened in Gaza. That is a clear genocide. Nobody should doubt that killing women, children, and the elderly, destroying hospitals and schools—that is genocide. It is an attempt to erase an entire group of people, the Palestinians. Yet the international community's response to prevent this has been very poor. Then we see Israel sending its army into Lebanon, killing people, and occupying territory simply because it decides to do so for its own interests. But where is the United Nations? Where is the international position that once earned respect by stopping or preventing war?

It is a pity that the United Nations is not playing the role it should in today's war scenarios. We would like to see more action from the UN—more prevention, or at least a response to the actions committed by one country.

There are many inconsistencies these days. When the United States attacked nuclear facilities in Iran, the United Nations was silent. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) somehow supported the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. But a few weeks ago, when there was an attack on a nuclear facility in the Emirates, the IAEA was the first to declare that such an attack cannot be permitted and that the perpetrator must be punished—because they believed the perpetrator was Iran. So why is attacking one facility bad, but attacking another acceptable? That double standard is something we cannot allow from an international body.

What is bad is bad for everyone. What is good is good for everyone. If you attack a nuclear facility, it is bad—whether in this country, that country, or another. It is always bad. The international community must play its role to prevent such acts, not take sides.

What message do you have for countries in Latin America and West Asia in light of U.S. crimes against Iran and Cuba?

My message is that everybody should learn from what is happening. We all have reasons to worry, because at any moment any country can become a target of the United States. Nobody escapes from American greed. Nobody escapes. The whole world is under threat. That is why countries have to prepare themselves and ask, “Who is next?” At the same time, we continue to believe in relations based on respect. We would like to be a good neighbor on the basis of respect for sovereignty and the independence of every country. But what is happening today shows that nations must stay alert and defend their sovereignty together.

Do you think that when it comes to Cuba, at least, there are other individual countries with significant power projection capabilities—such as Russia and China—that could have done more to help shield Cuba against potential U.S. aggression?

Well, Russia and China are very good friends of Cuba. They are supporting Cuba one hundred percent, especially in our current economic situation. But for many years, we have learned that the capacity to defend our country rests on us. We are the ones who must defend our nation. If others come to our defense, that would be welcome—but we know that the first responsibility is our own.

That said, Cuba has enormous solidarity and support from around the world. If you go on social media today, you will see many people in different countries—European nations, the United States, Latin American countries—taking to the streets, holding demonstrations, supporting Cuba, chanting "hands off Cuba," and calling for no attack on Cuba. And many humble people all over the world are signing documents saying that Cuba must be defended. For us, that is something that deserves our admiration—how our friends across the world are expressing their position and their support for Cuba.

But concerning the military defense of Cuba, we rely on our own efforts and our own capacity. We know that we do not want to involve anyone else in this. As you mentioned throughout this conversation, we have been talking about Venezuela, Iran, and how Cuba is now under threat. And our position remains the same: we will defend ourselves.

How do you evaluate the current level of diplomatic and strategic relations between Iran and Cuba?

We have had diplomatic relations since the very beginning of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, which now amounts to 47 years of ties. Over those decades, we have built very close diplomatic and economic links. We have supported each other's positions on the international stage, and we enjoy a genuinely good relationship.

Of course, it could be even better. As fellow countries that have lived under sanctions for many years, Iran has managed to develop an economic capacity—a way to circumvent sanctions and reduce their impact—and has built a strong industrial base to support its development. This is an experience we must learn from. Iran has shown that it is possible to grow and develop even under sanctions, and we believe we must work toward a stronger economic relationship between our two countries in the future.

Our ties go beyond politics. For more than twenty years, we have collaborated with Iranian biotechnological institutions, including the Pasteur Institute. Through this partnership, we have successfully transferred technology to produce life-saving vaccines. We have worked together on vaccines for hepatitis and COVID-19, and we are now developing vaccines for Lunt and pneumococcal diseases. These are clear examples of what we can achieve for the benefit and well-being of our people. Still, without sanctions, we could do even more.