Congressional Republicans sent a letter on Friday to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regarding Iran possibly stationing long-range missiles in Venezuela.
Signed by Reps. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Scott Perry (R-Penn.), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) and Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), the letter, drafted by the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), warns that considering there’s been oil trade between Iran and Venezuela in defiance of U.S. sanctions, even though the Maduro regime “may not have the financial capital to purchase ballistic missiles from Iran, it is possible that Iranian leadership decides simply to give them these weapon systems for the strategic advantage alone.”
They warn that Iran’s short-, medium- and long-range ballistic missiles, if stationed in Caracas, could reach Puerto Rico, the entire Caribbean Sea, the “entirety of Florida and southern parts of Georgia, Alabama and U.S. oil rigs” in the Gulf of Mexico.
The letter claims that “with growing relations between Tehran and Caracas, it would not take much for Iran to smuggle any of their ballistic-missile systems into Venezuela by way of Iranian oil tanker,” adding that the “presence of Iranian ballistic missiles in America’s backyard would be detrimental to U.S. national security and would limit our ability to check Iranian aggression.”
The Republican congressmen go on to note that America “has found success working with its European allies such as the United Kingdom and Germany in countering Hezbollah’s influence, as these countries have now designated all of Hezbollah, not just its military arm, as a terrorist organization. Since then, a broader coalition within the European Union calls for the same action.”
