The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.
From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."
Many in country awakened by loud booms of U.S. bombs at 2 AM on Saturday.
After U.S. military forces
captured dictator Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelans went to grocery stores and
onto the streets facing uncertainties from food to political
succession.
ADN América visited several areas of Caracas and found long lines at
different establishments. The outlet also spoke with various consumers
to learn how they experienced the military intervention during the early
morning hours Saturday.
“I’ve been in line for an hour trying to buy food. I know many people
went out in the middle of the night for the same reason, but I didn’t
want to leave because I kept hearing planes flying nearby. I still hope I
can get something—at least enough for two weeks,” one customer who
asked to remain anonymous told an ADN América correspondent.
Another shopper described in detail what he felt at the time of the U.S. intervention.
“I was sleeping with my wife when we heard a very loud noise and saw
the roof and doors of the house shake around 2:00 a.m." one man
recalled. "I thought it was an earthquake until a neighbor shouted that
they were attacking the La Carlota air base. From that moment on, there
were explosion after explosion until everything calmed down at 4:00
a.m.”
“Everything was going on like a normal day when the first bombs fell
around 2:00 a.m. The Santa María (metal doors with roll-down locking
systems) and the windows started shaking, and I thought they were
lifting the Santa María to rob the place,” said an employee at a
Farmatodo pharmacy in Caracas. “When I looked out through the sales
window, I saw the trail of the falling bombs. By 4:00 a.m., people began
buying in massive numbers.”
Attacks were also reported in other parts of Venezuela, such as La
Guaira, near Caracas — especially in areas close to the port — as well
as at the Higuerote airport in Miranda state, and in Maracay, the
capital of Aragua state.
One resident of Higuerote, a tourist region two hours from Caracas,
said there were approximately seven explosions throughout the night.
“I
don’t know how the windows of my house didn’t break. I live near the
airport, and the first explosion at 2:00 a.m. was very strong—everything
shook.”
ADN América also spoke with two Venezuelans in Caracas about what
they believe will happen in the country following Maduro’s capture.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty. I just hope they do the same with
Diosdado,” one of them replied. The second interviewee said, “They’ll
surely take them one by one, but I don’t know what might happen or
when.”
Diosdado Cabello, who holds the role of minister of interior, justice and peace, is widely believed to be as powerful as Maduro.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were detained in a lightning
operation by U.S. special forces, and the dictator was flown to New York
to face federal narcoterrorism charges.
Regardless if a message was meant for Iran by capturing Maduro, Iran is already feeling the sting.
An Iranian crosses a street next
to a billboard bearing the portrait of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei and a quote reads in Persian 'Sing Oh Iran' at the Enqelab
Square in Tehran on July, 9, 2025.(photo credit: AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)
Whether US President Donald Trump
and his administration intended or not to add a warning to the Iranian
regime as a side effect to Saturday's capture of Venezuelan President
Nicolas Maduro, Islamic Regime officials will likely interpret the US
military operation as such.
Iran,
a longtime ally of Venezuela, has been suffering from civil unrest
since Sunday amid a dramatically weakening rial, water shortages, and a
regime with a weakened image after the 12-day war
with the US and Israel. Riots and protests have persisted as the
Islamic regime has cracked down, but in response to the security forces'
tightening grip, Trump has issued aggressive warnings.
Trump cautioned Iran on Truth Social on Friday that if its security forces killed protesters, "the United States of America will come to their rescue."
"We are locked and loaded and ready to go," wrote the US president.
These
remarks came just two days after Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, and noted that if Iran was indeed "behaving badly"
by continuing to develop nuclear and ballistic missile programs, "we'll
knock them down. We'll knock the hell out of them."
Iranians
ride their motorbike past a huge banner of former Iran Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani
ahead of the sixth anniversary of his assassination Iraq, at Valiasr
Square in Tehran, on December 31, 2025. (credit: AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)Such
warnings, coupled with a tacit demonstration of Trump's willingness to
use military force and even regime change, would give any hostile
country pause, but coincidental or not, the Maduro operation fell on the
six-year anniversary of Trump's assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
(IRGC) Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. The operation and the
sortie to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities were referenced by Trump in
a Saturday briefing as campaigns comparable to the Maduro raid.
"This
was one of the most stunning effective and powerful displays of
American military might and competence in American history, and if you
think about it, there have been other good ones, like the attack on
Soleimani, the attack on [ISIS founder Abu Bakr] Al Baghdadi, and the
obliteration and decimation of the Iran nuclear sites just recently in
the operation known as Midnight Hammer," said Trump.
The
intentional or unintentional messages in the Maduro operation have not
been missed by Israeli officials, who have verbalized the omens in the
pillars of smoke in Caracas.
"The regime in Iran should pay close attention to what is happening in Venezuela," Yesh Atid leader said on X on Saturday.
US's Venezuela op. delivered blow to 'global axis of evil,' sent 'clear message' to Khamenei
Diaspora
Minister Amichai Chikli also said in a statement that the operation
delivered a blow to the "global axis of evil" and sent a "clear message"
to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
"Maduro
did not run a country, he ran a crime and drug empire that directly
fueled Hezbollah and Iran," Chikli said Saturday night. "The president's
decisive steps have proven once again that strong leaders are the only
way to defeat dictators."
According
to Maariv, Commanders for Israel's Security, an NGO composed of more
than 550 retired senior officials, also assessed that "The American
action in Venezuela is a warning to the regime in Iran."
The
flurry of statements by Iranian officials on Saturday may indicate
increased concern, seeing a reminder that Trump is not all bluster when
it comes to dealing with his enemies.
The
Iranian MFA issued a statement criticizing the US military operation in
Venezuela as a " blatant violation of the country’s national
sovereignty and territorial integrity," and called on the United Nations
to condemn Washington.
Following the Saturday raid capturing Maduro, Khamenei's X account posted a series of remarks, after silence for several days.
"What’s
important is when one realizes an enemy wants to force something on
one's govt. [sic] or nation with false claims, they must stand firmly
against that enemy. We won’t give in to them. With reliance on God &
confidence in the people’s support, we’ll bring the enemy to its
knees," wrote Khamenei's account. "That ranting American sits there
talking about the Iranian nation, spewing a combination of slander and
promises. False promises! Deception!"
Khamenei
reminded that the US had prepared for war with his country while
negotiating on its nuclear program, and described how "soft warfare"
could be used to demoralize populations.
Even
if Trump had never made any of his statements regarding Iran, and the
attack were on a different day, the decapitation of an ally still spells
trouble for the Islamic Regime. Iran had invested military
infrastructure in Venezuela, with a drone manufacturing facility and a
Hezbollah training base. The Iranian proxy has also used the South
American country as a hub for its illicit financial network. Iran and
Venezuela saw almost three billion dollars in trade in 2023. Tehran
exported petroleum to Caracas and supported its own oil industry,
particularly in evading sanctions. With Maduro gone, those investments
are now in question, and when a country is in financial dire straits,
hope and despair alone can chart courses.
With
such investments into Venezuela by Iran, the US's removal of an
important asset is, as Chikli noted, a blow to the "axis of resistance."
Regardless if a message was meant for Iran by capturing Maduro, Iran is
already feeling the sting.
Maduro's 2020 indictment laid out evidence of how Venezuela's dictator ran a brutal drug cartel that addicted and poisoned Americans.
The daring U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan dictator
Nicolas Maduro on Saturday immediately launched Democrats and some U.S.
enemies such as Iran and Cuba into a tirade, suggesting that the arrest
of an indicted world leader was somehow illegal and that one of the
Western hemisphere's most brutal leaders deserved sympathy.
But two decades of U.S. documents produced under Democrat and Republican presidents and reviewed by Just the News
chronicle Maduro's thuggish, illegal and lethal behavior toward the
United States as well as his alliances with enemies like
drug-trafficking leftist guerrillas, rogue regimes like Iran and terror
groups like Hezbollah.
Even former Democrat President Joe Biden – who eased sanctions on
Maduro in a failed effort to reboot relations with Venezuela – had to
admit he was an "illegitimate" leader of his country after Maduro
declared himself the victor of a 2024 election that international
observers insisted was won by the opposition.
"Maduro clearly lost the 2024 presidential election and has no right
to claim the presidency," then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken
declared a year ago this month.
The stolen election was the latest in a two-decade rampage by Maduro and his socialist cronies.
For instance, a federal grand jury in Manhattan provided compelling
evidence in 2020 that Maduro and his top leadership were running a
brutal narco-terrorism cartel aligned with Colombia's notorious FARC
guerrilla traffickers that addicted Americans to cocaine and opened the
door for them to be poisoned by more powerful opioids such as fentanyl
shipped from Mexico.
Drug Enforcement Administration memos and Treasury Department
sanction records demonstrated how Venezuela became an international hub
for illicit money laundering.
And in 2017, Maduro literally stole an automobile plant from General
Motors, a seizure that shocked the business world and forced the
American automaker to shutter operations and lay off hundreds of
workers.
"Maduro was a narco-dictator under a strong 2020 indictment for
flooding the US with narcotics, sending criminal gangs into our country
and sponsoring terrorism. This is a huge win for American and regional
security due to President Trump's decisive leadership," former CIA
analyst and National Security Council chief of staff Fred Fleitz told Just the News.
"This was not regime change," Sixty-seven percent of Venezuelans
voted for regime change last July when they voted for the opposition
candidate in the presidential election. Maduro refused to accept the
election result. His capture by the U.S. will be celebrated in
Venezuela." he also said.
The most damning document the U.S. government produced on Maduro before Saturday was the 2020 indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Manhattan at
the request of the first Trump Justice Department. The indictment
chronicles how Maduro seized power after rising through the ranks of a
drug cartel closely aligned with Colombia's leftist guerrillas and drug
traffickers.
Since at least 1999, the indictment claimed, Maduro and his cohorts
"acted as leaders and managers of the Cártel de Los Soles," also known
as Cartel of the Suns. The cartel’s name refers to the sun insignia
affixed to the uniforms of high-ranking Venezuelan military officials.
Maduro Moros and the other charged cartel members "abused the
Venezuelan people and corrupted the legitimate institutions of Venezuela
– including parts of the military, intelligence apparatus, legislature
and the judiciary – to facilitate the importation of tons of cocaine
into the United States," the indictment also states. "Under the
leadership of Maduro Moros and others, the Cártel de Los Soles sought to
not only enrich its members and enhance their power, but also to
'flood' the United States with cocaine and inflict the drug’s harmful
and addictive effects on users in the United States."
The indictment laid out how Maduro conspired with Colombia's
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC, a leftist guerrilla
group that waged years of civil war in Colombia while destabilizing the
West with drug trafficking.
"Beginning in approximately 1999, while the FARC was purporting to
negotiate toward peace with the Colombian government, FARC leaders
agreed with leaders of the Cártel de Los Soles to relocate some of the
FARC’s operations to Venezuela under the protection of the Cartel," the
inictment said.
"Thereafter, the FARC and the Cártel de Los Soles dispatched
processed cocaine from Venezuela to the United States via transshipment
points in the Caribbean and Central America, such as Honduras. By
approximately 2004, the U.S. Department of State estimated that 250 or
more tons of cocaine were transiting Venezuela per year."
The Justice Department added: "In his role as a leader of the Cártel de Los Soles,Maduro negotiated multi-ton shipments of FARC-produced cocaine; directed that the Cártel de Los Solesprovide
military-grade weapons to the FARC; coordinated foreign affairs with
Honduras and other countries to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking;
and solicited assistance from FARC leadership in training an
unsanctioned militia group that functioned, in essence, as an armed
forces unit for the Cártel de Los Soles."
When Trump took office for the first time, in 2017, Maduro stepped up
his anti-American hostilities as his government seized and nationalized
American-built and owned factories under its socialist economy.
GM said its "plant was unexpectedly taken by the public authorities,
preventing normal operations. In addition, other assets of the company,
such as vehicles, have been illegally taken from its facilities."
Illicit money laundering also became a big business under Maduro,
causing the U.S. Treasury Department to sanction more than 300 corrupt
figures in Venezuela for moving illegal commodities and cash.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office gave a sweeping look at the scope of money laundering under Maduro in a 2023 report.
"Between 2017 and 2022, State consistently determined that Venezuela
is a major money laundering country," the office reported. "Illicit
financial flows related to Venezuela include proceeds from the sale of
commodities, such as oil and gold, and drug trafficking."
One of the areas of grave concern for U.S. officials was money
laundering tied to Iran and its terrorist proxies such as Hezbollah,
which were first unveiled during a 2013 congressional hearing on that
terrorist group's activities.
Lawmakers introduced evidence
in that hearing that Hezbollah had "attempted laundering of
approximately $70 million from Venezuela to Germany in January 2013" and
was "running training camps and international narcotics smuggling
operations in Venezuela, Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua, and even Mexico."
A 2025 report from the security think tank Rand Corp. provided more details on the ties a decade later.
"Iran and affiliated networks have demonstrated interest in
Venezuela’s gold reserves as a means of sanction evasion," the report
revealed. "In 2020, Iran shipped gasoline to Venezuela in exchange for
gold; U.S. officials successfully deterred some shipments through
sanction threats against the former.
"Although direct Hezbollah involvement in Venezuelan gold mining
remains difficult to verify conclusively, the established gold-trade
relationship between Iran and Venezuela – combined with Hezbollah’s
documented presence in Venezuela and its role as an Iranian proxy –
suggests that there are potential opportunities for the organization to
benefit from these arrangements," Rand said.
For years, this cell has fomented anti-American hate in the U.S. under the cover of "anti-war" protests, rallying activists after the 9/11 attacks to condemn the U.S. response, appropriating "anti-racism" protests after the 2020 killing of George Floyd, marching with Antifa agitators, organizing antisemitic campus encampments after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas and activating "working-class Americans" to support Maduro and his regime in a war against "U.S. imperialism."
As the U.S. military carried out a daring operation
to capture Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, a second front opened up within
minutes in the United States an information warfare, psychological and
propaganda operation run by a hardened cell of self-described Marxist,
socialist and communist leaders.
For years, this
cell has fomented anti-American hate in the U.S. under the cover of
"anti-war" protests, rallying activists after the 9/11 attacks to
condemn the U.S. response, appropriating "anti-racism" protests after
the 2020 killing of George Floyd,
marching with Antifa agitators, organizing antisemitic campus
encampments after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas and
activating "working-class Americans" to support Maduro and his regime in
a war against "U.S. imperialism."
A Fox News Digital analysis of
their minute-by-minute moves overnight reveals how this network
activated a coordinated ideological and information warfare campaign,
moving through digital social media channels with quickly produced
posters to mobilize foot soldiers to the streets for an "EMERGENCY DAY
OF ACTION" in New York City; Washington, D.C.; and an estimated 100
other cities, moving with the speed and discipline of an organized
military operation.
Over
12 hours, a network of self-described socialist, communist and Marxist
organizations used social media to launch an anti-American propaganda
and street campaign in the U.S. to support Venezuelan President Nicolás
Maduro.(@BTNewsroom/X, @manolo_realengo/X, @answercoalition/X, @PeoplesForumNYC/X, @PSLNational/X, @VijayPrashad/X, @CodePink/X)
At
1:35 a.m., as U.S. special forces teams had just landed in Venezuela,
BreakThrough News, a socialist propaganda arm of the network, published
some of the first video from the U.S. military strikes, blasting the
Trump administration for waging an "illegal bombing campaign of
Caracas," the capital of Venezuela. It was a talking point that was
going to stick.
Ten
minutes later, at 1:45 a.m., one of the key leaders of this network,
Manolo De Los Santos, executive director at The People's Forum, a
proudly socialist 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in New York City, echoed the narrative on social media of an "illegal bombing."
Less
than an hour later, at 2:29 a.m., the ANSWER Coalition, a nonprofit
co-founded by a proud Marxist, Brian Becker, published a red siren alert
on the social media platform X with a slick new poster, calling
supporters to the streets in Times Square for a protest Saturday to
support Maduro.
"NO WAR ON VENEZUELA! STOP THE BOMBINGS," the poster screamed, on brand.
Minutes later, at 2:34 a.m., The People’s Forum shared the call-to-action, screaming: "EMERGENCY PROTEST"
Soon after, at 2:43 a.m., the Party for Socialism and Liberation shared the poster on X, saying, "Stop the bombings…!"
Congressional lawmakers are already investigating
this socialist network for its ties to Neville Roy Singham, a United
States-born technology executive who relocated to Shanghai after selling
his software firm and starting work that critics say is aligned closely with interests of the Chinese Communist Party. Singham didn’t respond to a request for comment.
By 3:21 a.m., Vijay Prashad, director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, a research institute chaired by Singham that examines issues through the lens of "national liberation Marxism," posted a message, denouncing the military action, declaring, "Down with US imperialism."
Within a few hours, at 6:09 a.m., CodePink, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by Singham’s wife, Jodie Evans, condemned the "terrorist United States…"
From
a military intelligence perspective, experts say the overnight sequence
bears the hallmarks of a pre-positioned influence network executing a
rapid-response operation. The synchronization of messaging, the
staggered release of content across aligned platforms and the immediate
transition from online agitation to physical mobilization point to an
ecosystem designed not for spontaneous protest, but for ideological
warfare.
In
this framework, experts say, the nonprofit leaders are foot soldiers in
Maduro’s war on the United States, acting as civilian operatives
advancing the strategic interests of a foreign ideological project.
Their role is not to fight with weapons, but to contest legitimacy,
shape public perception, apply internal pressure on U.S. decision-making
during moments of external conflict and further the cause of communism,
experts say.
At the center of this domestic front is an international coordination structure known as the International Peoples’ Assembly,
which functions as an umbrella organization and political
command-and-control hub linking communist parties, socialist movements,
activist organizations and state-aligned media outlets worldwide.
One of its media arms, the People’s Dispatch,
has explicitly framed its mission as mobilizing global resistance
against "American imperialism," including repeated calls to action on
behalf of Venezuela. It lists Singham’s Tricontinental as one of its "partners." The North America members of its "coordinating committee" include CodePink; the Popular Education Project, an initiative
of The People’s Forum; and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Its
Venezuelan member is a group called Francisco de Miranda Front, which
works closely with its U.S. allies.
At 7:49 a.m., the International People’s Assembly shared the poster for the "EMERGENCY DAY OF ACTION."
It quickly published a statement
condemning the U.S. military action as reflective of the country’s
"increasingly militaristic and hyper-imperialist orientation" and
calling on members to "resist this pursuit of hegemony by any means
necessary."
The
assembly operates in close alignment with Tricontinental, the SIngham
organization that functions as an ideological production center,
generating narratives, research and messaging disseminated through
aligned media platforms and activated through street-level
organizations. Singham’s wife, Evans, sits on the International People’s
Assembly, tightening the operational loop between messaging,
mobilization and leadership.
Experts
say the ideological doctrine guiding this network is shaped in part by
Prashad, who also serves as editor of People’s Dispatch.
On the
operational side, De Los Santos, executive director at The People’s
Forum, has emerged as a visible field organizer. He is listed
as a researcher at Tricontinental and has repeatedly appeared at
regime-aligned events in Venezuela, functioning as a liaison between the
ideological center and street-level mobilization abroad and at home.
In 2003, Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez backed
a new group in Venezuela, the Francisco de Miranda Front, laying the
groundwork for an international solidarity apparatus that joined the
International People’s Assembly, working with U.S. groups. That
infrastructure matured over time into a durable support system for
Maduro when he was elected president in 2013.
By March 2019, that relationship was well-entrenched when De Los Santos organized a pro-Maduro protest outside Venezuela’s consulate in New York, physically denying opposition figures access to the building.
That
month, the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Claudia De la Cruz
jetted to Venezuela for a four-day conference of the International
Peoples’ Assembly in Caracas, urging socialists to "collectivize" their
efforts to fight the "capitalist crisis" in the world, according to a video shared from the meeting with the hashtag #HandsOffVenezuela..
"Venezuela is the epicenter," she declared. "Venezuela is the personification of the anti-imperialist struggle."
The
next month, The People’s Forum hosted Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge
Arreaza during a talk in which he demanded the U.S. end sanctions on
the country, according to an article
in "Fight Back! News," a publication by members of the Freedom Road
Socialist Organization. "The evening concluded with Arreaza thanking the
crowd and urging people to keep fighting and protesting," the article
noted. "Manolo de los Santos, the executive director of The People’s
Forum, took up Arreaza on his request and called the crowd to action."
In May 2019, when a coup attempt failed, De Los Santos appeared
on teleSUR, the state-funded TV network in Caracas, saying he’d
organized a press conference with religious leaders in New York City to
"engage in the battle of ideas" against "imperialist aggression."
Two
leaders in the global socialist network, Vijay Prashad and Manola De
Los Santos, stand with Nicolás Maduro on election day in 2021. They
emerged as outspoken leaders in the pro-Maduro protests after Maduro's
arrest by U.S. military forces.(@VijayPrashad/X, @manolo_realengo/X)
Two years later, in November 2021, Prashad and De Los Santos shared
a photo with Maduro, all of them flashing a thumbs-up, with Prashad
writing, "Elections in Venezuela today!" He noted that he stood with De
Los Santos and Maduro, supporting "sovereignty against imperialism."
The next month, De Los Santos participated in a Caracas conference livestreamed
on Maduro’s X account, speaking at the 59-minute mark and holding up a
manifesto, "Plan para salvar la humanidad," or "Plan to save humanity."
He
returned to Caracas in April 2022 for the International Anti-Fascist
Summit, posting a photo with Eugene Puryear, a senior figure in the
Party for Socialism and Liberation, further reinforcing the operational
linkage between U.S.-based activists and foreign political structures.
The pattern intensified the next year when De Los Santos and De la Cruz attended a conference
sponsored by the Maduro government to explicitly preserve the
ideological legacy of "Comandante Chávez," their term of reverence for
Chávez.
In late April 2024, Maduro even recognized
De Los Santos as he thanked attendees of a conference of the
"Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America," established by
Cuba and Venezuela in 2004 to unite communist economic interests.
This past fall, a wide network
that included the Communist Party USA, the All-African People’s
Revolutionary Party and the Struggle for Socialism Party supported an
"urgent call for a week of coordinated protests" to support Maduro. Last
month, the network took action again, organizing "NO WAR ON VENEZUELA" protests.
The
newest overnight campaign to support Maduro will likely send foot
soldiers into the streets to support Maduro and his wife during any
trials they face, not just as an expression of protest but as a
continued campaign of information warfare on the domestic front.
Experts
say the network that spent decades legitimizing and defending communist
regimes abroad and now functions as a rapid-response influence force
inside the United States is a new threat matrix that amounts to
something the FBI and intelligence agencies investigate as malign foreign influence.
Its
members operate as ideological foot soldiers, advancing a
foreign-aligned narrative during moments of conflict, seeking to
fracture public consensus, delegitimize U.S. action and apply pressure
from within.
Over
the 12 hours of activation to support Maduro, politicians endorsed by
the Democratic Socialists of America echoed criticism of the U.S. action
as illegal, and socialist pro-Maduro organizations in the U.S.
activated members to join street protests.(@PeopleAssembl_/X, @RepRashida/X, @AOC/X, @AnswerCoalition/X)
By daylight Saturday morning, at 8:49 a.m., CodePink invoked a slogan used last year as a theme in anti-Trump protests, declaring, "HANDS OFF VENEZUELA," and issuing a statement dismissing criminal proceedings against Maduro as a "sham" prosecution.
By 8:57 a.m., the Democratic Socialists of America, which just saw its star politician, Zohran Mamdani, inaugurated as mayor of New York City, shared a message from U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a member of the organization, condemning the U.S. strike as "illegal."
At 10:29 a.m., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another member of the Democratic Socialists of America, chimed in, saying, "It’s about oil and regime change."
On cue, at 1:06 p.m, Mamdani repeated the
refrain established overnight by the socialist network that brought him
to the mayor’s office in New York City, blasting the U.S. for the
"military capture" of Maduro, calling it an "act of war" and "blatant
pursuit of regime change."
The talking points of politicians,
activist groups and foot soldiers in the socialist, communist and
Marxist network in the U.S. echoed the statements that the two strongest
communist powers in the world expressed about their ally, Maduro. China issued a statement
saying it opposed the "blatant use of force" by the U.S. in Venezuela.
Russia called the news an "act of aggression" against Venezuela.
By
afternoon, within 12 hours of first hearing about the military
operation in Caracas, the pro-Maduro network started churning out fast
clips of its information war on the Trump administration.
At 1:34 p.m., the social media team at the ANSWER Coalition posted
a closely cropped video of protesters, holding the ANSWER Coalition’s
distinctive yellow-and-black signs and chanting in front of the White
House, "Stop the war machine!" The Party for Socialism and Liberation
immediately shared the video.
A little over an hour later, at 2:42 p.m., The People’s Forum shared
a video of Becker, the co-founder of the ANSWER Coalition, from Times
Square in New York City, a camera filming him from behind, as he
declared, "This is a capitalist war! It’s a rich man’s war! The
kidnapping of Maduro is an imperialist war for a capitalist class!"
MS
Now, the new name for MSNBC, reported from the Times Square protest and
its reporter only shared a throwaway line about the ANSWER Coalition
having a "speakers’ program going on behind us," without cluing viewers
into the group’s proud Marxist politics.
Online, at 3 p.m.,
wearing a black-and-white checkered collared shirt, the Party for
Socialism and Liberation’s Puryear hosted a YouTube livestream, joined by Tricontinental’s Prashad and others. BreakThrough News promoted
the livestream with a new piece of graphic propaganda, showing Trump
with a mouth gaping open and Maduro with his chin high, appearing stoic
and regal.
At 3:02 p.m., The People’s Forum shared
a video clip on its X account of De Los Santos at the Times Square
protest, a microphone in his hand as he scanned the crowd and railed
against the U.S., calling the Trump administration a "criminal
enterprise" for "kidnapping" Maduro.
"Shame!" the crowd responded, in a typical refrain for the group’s protests.
Back on the BreakThrough News livestream, Puryear asked Becker about the "quick turnaround" on organizing the protests.
Becker spoke about the night before like a field marshal.
"A
few of us stood up all night last night when we heard the news,
conferring with each other, conferring with other organizers and, by
3:30, 4 o’clock this morning, we put out the call for demonstrations to
happen today, Saturday, Jan. 3," he said.
Between 10 a.m. and
11:30 a.m., he said, leaders of anti-Trump groups, including 50501,
which organized "HandsOff" and "TakedownTesla" protests, reached out to
the pro-Maduro organizers to join their protests, and the protest
numbers swelled with the "entrance" of the groups more closely aligned
with the Democratic Party.
Now, he bragged, the results were protests in "100-plus cities."
As
the jet with Maduro and his wife touched down in the U.S. at Stewart
Airport in New Windsor, New York, agents with "DEA" across their jackets
boarding the plane, the caption on the livestream said proudly:
"ANTI-WAR PROTESTS SWEEP U.S."
"We should be raging!" Becker declared, stoking the "working class" to join the "class war, global war, anti-imperialist war."
The protests today, he warned, "are a harbinger of what’s coming."
Israeli officials believe that Turkey, and Qatar, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, are instead working on alternative solutions that would not require Hamas to disarm. The Turks and Qataris have proposed that Hamas either transfer its weapons to the Palestinian Authority (PA), or to some kind of "secure storage under oversight." Behind both proposals lies the aim of preserving Hamas' influence in Gaza and ability to rearm. Israel insists, however, that Hamas must be weapons‑free.
Ever since Trump succeeded in
implementing the first stage of his 20-point plan for ending the Gaza
conflict, Hamas has received widespread backing from its supporters in
Ankara, Doha, Islamabad and Tehran for ignoring demands to surrender its
weapons.
Hamas's recalcitrance on the disarmament issue, moreover, has
been reinforced by the support it has received from its backers in
Turkey, Qatar, Pakistan and Iran to ignore the Trump administration's
disarmament demand.
Israeli officials believe that Turkey, and Qatar, which does not
have diplomatic relations with Israel, are instead working on
alternative solutions that would not require Hamas to disarm. The Turks
and Qataris have proposed that Hamas either transfer its weapons to the
Palestinian Authority (PA), or to some kind of "secure storage under
oversight." Behind both proposals lies the aim of preserving Hamas'
influence in Gaza and ability to rearm. Israel insists, however, that
Hamas must be weapons‑free.
Instead, all of Hamas's backers -- as well as the Palestinian
Authority waiting in the wings to displace the group -- continue playing
their dangerous double game of trying to be allies of both the Trump
administration and Hamas's terrorist leadership at the same time.
In addition, Turkey, Qatar, Iran and Pakistan have never
designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation – and believe that it is
entitled to continue its "resistance" -- meaning terrorism –- against
Israel.
It is commendable that the US president, rather than acting
rashly, has continually offered adversaries -- such as Russia, China and
Iran -- time to consider his requests. Hamas's allies, however,
including the Palestinian Authority in its current form, have little
incentive ever actually to comply with Trump's demands.
US President Donald Trump's demand that Hamas terrorists
completely disarm will only happen if the White House is prepared to
pressure countries such as Turkey, Qatar and Iran, which have
historically backed the terror group, to force Hamas militants to lay
down their arms. Pictured: A Hamas spokesman appears in a recorded
statement to the media, in the Gaza Strip on December 29, 2025. (Photo
by AFP via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump's demand that Hamas terrorists completely
disarm will only happen if the White House is prepared to pressure
countries such as Turkey, Qatar and Iran, which have historically backed
the terror group, to force Hamas militants to lay down their arms.
Ever since Trump succeeded in implementing the first stage of his
20-point plan for ending the Gaza conflict, Hamas has received
widespread backing from its supporters in Ankara, Doha, Islamabad and Tehran for ignoring demands to surrender its weapons.
Requiring Hamas to disarm and end its malevolent presence in Gaza was
one of Trump's key stipulations when drawing up his peace plan, with
the disarmament process expected to begin as soon as all the remaining
Israeli hostages had been released in return for hundreds of Palestinian
prisoners.
While the initial phase of Trump's peace plan has proved to be a
success, with all but one of the fallen Israeli hostages being returned,
Hamas has shown scant interest in complying with the disarmament
requirement.
Back in August, when the Trump administration was working hard to implement its Gaza ceasefire plan, Hamas issued a statement rejecting
the demand to disarm, insisting that it would only consider doing so
once an "independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem
as its capital" was established.
The group has maintained this uncompromising position ever since, declaring in a rare interview
with The Times of Israel earlier this month that the group will only
agree to give up its weapons through negotiations that result in the
establishment of a Palestinian state.
"This cannot be done by force or ultimatums. Israel used all of its
military might for two years [to try and disarm Hamas], and it didn't
work," the Hamas source said in a rare engagement with an Israeli media
outlet.
Hamas's recalcitrance on the disarmament issue, moreover, has been
reinforced by the support it has received from its backers in Turkey,
Qatar, Pakistan and Iran to ignore the Trump administration's
disarmament demand.
Israeli officials believe that Turkey, and Qatar, which does not have
diplomatic relations with Israel, are instead working on alternative
solutions that would not require Hamas to disarm. The Turks and Qataris
have proposed
that Hamas either transfer its weapons to the Palestinian Authority
(PA), or to some kind of "secure storage under oversight." Behind both
proposals lies the aim of preserving Hamas' influence in Gaza and
ability to rearm. Israel insists, however, that Hamas must be
weapons‑free.
At the same time, Iran, which is quietly continuing to build its
nuclear and missile programmes after the devastating setback it suffered
during last summer's military confrontation with Israel and the US, is reportedly maintaining its military and financial support for Hamas's terrorist infrastructure.
Hamas's refusal to disarm, which has been strengthened by the support
it has received from its regional backers, certainly poses a
significant obstacle for Trump and his efforts to make sure his
ceasefire plan for Gaza survives.
Israel has indicated its willingness to resume the war if the
Palestinian terror group does not give up its weapons, while Hamas's
refusal to disarm has discouraged a number of pro-Western Arab
governments, such as Jordan, from supporting Trump's plan to create an
"international stabilization force" (ISF) to keep the peace in Gaza
while peace talks continue.
In August 2024, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were approached about joining the planned ISF in Gaza, but solidly rebuffed the idea.
Jordan's King Abdullah II has been particularly outspoken about
contributing to the force so long as Hamas retains its terrorist
infrastructure. He warned
in a recent BBC interview that, "If we're running around Gaza on patrol
with weapons, that's not a situation that any country would like to get
involved in."
In such circumstances, it is hardly surprising that Trump is losing patience with the Hamas leadership, warning that there would be "hell to pay" if it does not disarm within a "very short period".
Trump issued his warning following talks with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu at the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida,
insisting that Hamas "will be given a very short period of time to
disarm...If they don't disarm, as they agreed to do... then there will
be hell to pay for them."
If Trump is really serious about getting Hamas to disarm, then he
needs to forget about the terror group's key backers -- most notably
Turkey, Qatar and Iran, as well as Pakistan, who clearly will never
actually force Hamas to fulfil its disarmament commitments. Instead, all
of Hamas's backers -- as well as the Palestinian Authority waiting in
the wings to displace the group -- continue playing their dangerous
double game of trying to be allies of both the Trump administration and
Hamas's terrorist leadership at the same time.
A good way to pressure Turkey to play a more constructive role in
persuading Hamas to disarm, instead of endlessly trying to devise ways
for the terror group to hold on to its weapons, would be for the White
House to suspend its controversial plan to sell F-35 stealth fighters to Ankara.
Unfortunately, that sale could easily incentivise Turkey to agree to a
deal in order to acquire the aircraft; then, when "stabilising" Gaza,
simply look the other way at Hamas violations, or even assist the
terrorist group -- possibly after the F-35s have been safely delivered
to Ankara.
Similarly, Trump could increase the pressure on Qatar to play ball by
threatening to rescind the executive order he signed in September
committing the US to protect the Gulf state. Entitled "Assuring the
Security of the State of Qatar", the order recognizes the "enduring
alliance" between the US and Qatar and provides Qatar an explicit
security guarantee in the event of "external attack," stating that:
"[T]he United States shall take all lawful and
appropriate measures—including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary,
military—to defend the interests of the United States and the State of
Qatar and to restore peace and stability."
However, after Qatar's exorbitant generosity to the US – pledged investments of $1.2 trillion as well as a $400 million 747-jumbo jet -- the probability of Trump's exerting any pressure on Qatar to do anything is likely close to zero.
Pakistan, teeming with jihadi organisations, has steadfastly refused
even to recognise Israel, unless there is a Palestinian state with East
Jerusalem as its capital and unless Israel withdraws to the
indefensible 1949 armistice line.
As for Iran, both Trump and Netanyahu made it abundantly clear during
their Mar-a-Lago summit that they were fully prepared to undertake
further military action against the ayatollahs if they persisted with
their nuclear activities as well as other "weapons."
If Iran wants to avoid further humiliation at the hands of the US and
Israel, it would be well-advised not to interfere in Trump's peace
efforts in Gaza.
In addition, Turkey, Qatar, Iran and Pakistan
have never designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation – and believe
that it is entitled to continue its "resistance" -- meaning terrorism –- against Israel.
As for the Palestinian Authority,
it supports Phase II of Trump's 20-point plan, most likely because
Hamas has been its rival, even violently ousting the PA from Gaza in
2007. However, not only are the PA's security forces evidently involved
in terror, but for decades, its senior officials and leading figures
have openly said that Israel has no right to exist (such as here, here, here and here). In July, the Qatari government daily Al-Sharq was obliquely careful to quote a Palestinian journalist as saying that by 2027, Israel will cease to exist.
Trump may think that threatening Hamas directly will help him to
achieve his goal of forcing the terror group to disarm. His efforts,
however, are far more likely to succeed if, as he stated on December 30,
Hamas does not follow his recommendation to disarm by a certain date.
It is commendable that the US president, rather than acting rashly, has
continually offered adversaries -- such as Russia, China and Iran --
time to consider his requests. Hamas's allies, however, including the
Palestinian Authority in its current form, have little incentive ever actually to comply with Trump's demands.
Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
"This is a necessary and fundamental condition for the implementation of his 20-point plan," said the Israeli premier.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Jan. 4, 2025. Photo by Maayan Toaf/GPO.
President Donald Trump has been
“unequivocal,” both in private and in public, that Hamas needs to disarm
as a condition for his 20-point peace plan to proceed, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.
“This is a necessary and fundamental
condition for the implementation of his 20-point plan. He made no
concessions on this and showed no flexibility on this matter,” Netanyahu
stated, addressing journalists ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting in
Jerusalem on Sunday.
Netanyahu’s visit last week to Trump’s
Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., contributed to “deepening the dual
relationship—between Israel and the United States, and of course the
personal bond,” he added.
During the visit, Trump told journalists
that Hamas would be allowed a “very short period of time” to
demilitarize or “there will be hell to pay for them.” While the
president said he wants to move to Phase 2 “as quickly as we can,” he
stopped short of offering any concrete timeline.
The prime minister said on Sunday it was
“very moving for my wife and me to stand alongside the president and his
wife and celebrate the entry of the new year, which we hope will be
even better than the past year.
“President Trump asked me: ‘Tell me, do
you like fireworks?’ I told him: ‘It’s preferable to other things that
explode in the sky, but with that too we have learned to deal very
well.’ Of course, he understood.”
ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו בפתח ישיבת הממשלה: ״אנחנו מזדהים עם המאבק של העם האיראני, ועם השאיפות שלו לחופש, חירות וצדק. ייתכן מאוד שאנחנו עומדים ברגע שבו העם האיראני לוקח את גורלו בידו״
Netanyahu told Fox News last week
that progress toward the next phase hinges on Hamas disarming, calling
the terrorist group’s refusal to give up its weapons the central
obstacle to stabilizing the territory in 2026.
The prime minister told Fox that
he believed a different future for Gaza was still possible in the year
ahead “if we disarm Hamas, whether with an international force or by any
other means.” He added, “If it can be done the easy way, fine. And if
not, it’ll be done another way.”
The Palestinian terrorist organization still has around 20,000 operatives and 60,000 rifles, Netanyahu revealed.
“That’s what disarmament means—got to take
all these rifles, take them away from them, and break up those terror
tunnels that they have, still hundreds of kilometers of terror tunnels,”
the premier told Fox News.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on
Dec. 6 repeated calls for the Jewish state’s destruction, rejecting
U.S.- and U.N.-backed demands to disarm the Iranian-supported terrorist
group and demilitarize the Gaza Strip.
“The resistance and its weapons are the honor and pride of the ummah
[the Islamic nation],” Mashaal told an anti-Israel summit in Turkey. “A
thousand statements are not worth a single projectile of iron.”
The IDF on Saturday carried out a precise strike on a Hamas tunnel shaft
in the northern Gaza Strip containing a rocket launcher “loaded and
ready to be launched toward the city of Sderot,” the military said. It
added that the terror group’s action was a “blatant” truce violation.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry
said on Sunday that Hamas was violating the ceasefire “every day” by
refusing to return the remains of Israel Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili,
the last remaining hostage, whose body was taken after fighting
terrorists during the Oct. 7 massacre.
The Palestinian terrorist organization
slow-walked the release of the hostages’ remains, despite being
obligated to return all 28 bodies on Oct. 13 in accordance with the
ceasefire agreement it agreed to.
A weakened regime and deep economic anger have created an opening, but scattered protests now face a decisive moment
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran January 3, 2026.(photo credit: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)
In
2009, 2017, 2019, and 2022, major protests in Iran shook the regime,
but were eventually put down by a mix of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij
stormtroopers, who are willing to kill and beat their own citizens
without a second thought.
The
coming days will probably dictate whether the recent protests, which
began on December 28, will finally be the wave that cracks Khamenei's 36-year rule, or whether the demonstrators meet the same fate as the prior rounds.
There have been two major advantages for the protesters this time as opposed to prior rounds.
One is that the regime's military power is at a decades-long low.
After Israel attacked Tehran in
June 2025, Khamenei not only lost most of his nuclear program, half of
his ballistic missiles, 80% of his air defense, and over 30 top military
and IRGC commanders, but the IRGC and the Basij also took specific hits from the IDF in the final days of the campaign.
FILE
PHOTO: People walk past closed shops, following protests over a plunge
in the currency's value, in the Tehran Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran,
December 30, 2025. (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS
AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)This included striking the
infamous Evin prison, facilitating some prisoners' fleeing, and forcing
the Islamic Republic to relocate 1,500 prisoners elsewhere.
Finally, Khamenei himself hid for much of the war, harming his brand of having absolute control.
In
that sense, Khamenei is at his weakest militarily, both in actual
physical terms of having lost many assets of repressive power and also
in psychological terms regarding his perceived status.
Second
is that the protests have been spurred on by broad economic problems
that impact all Iranians, including the regime's Shi'ite supporters and
merchants from the bazaar who are often viewed as influential for
political trends.
This
is as opposed to some protests, which involved mainly Sunni, Kurds,
reformers, and other minorities and weaker critics of the regime.
People are protesting high fuel prices, inflation, and a lack of running water.
In other words, no one really disagrees with the arguments of the protesters or feels their complaints are invalid.
Possibly
because of all of these above factors, while Khamenei has started to
use some IRGC and Basij oppression to date, crackdowns have not yet
reached the viciousness of earlier protest periods.
Despite
these positives, there are plenty of counter reasons to think that the
chances of regime change are even smaller this time than in some prior
protests.
No central leader
The current protests have no central leader or figures.
This makes it difficult to achieve a specific outcome.
Merely
protesting in public with no defined end goal and no specific program
to reach it is usually a recipe for not achieving much.
Further, the protests, while widespread, have been relatively small.
There have been no protests yet of hundreds of thousands or even close to that.
There
is little potential for protests to achieve regime change, if they
don't reach the hundreds of thousands or more level, as some prior
rounds did.
Protesters
need to start reaching much higher numbers in the coming days if they
want a real chance to topple the regime and to maintain momentum.
Next, paradoxically, the war with Israel, or its aftermath, may have strengthened Khamenei's hand.
There
really was a brief moment after the war ended on June 24, 2025, when
Khamenei and his supporters were terrified that they might lose control.
Had the world and the Iranian nation taken advantage of that moment, Khamenei might have been much weaker.
But
when Khamenei saw that no one, global or domestic, was seeking to
topple him, he ordered one of the widest and most brutal crackdowns in
years.
Many regime opponents were killed, beaten, or detained indefinitely.
This is likely one of the reasons there is no central leader this time.
Many of the figures who might have taken charge were dealt with by Khamenei this past summer, immediately after the war.
No one came to their aid in those critical moments.
Moreover,
while having the bazaar involved in the protests is helpful, this is
not the first time they have helped with demonstrations, and there have
been other times that this did not turn the tide.
Instead,
the protesters would need elements of the Iranian military to defect to
their side of the conflict in order to protect them from crackdowns by
the IRGC and the Basij.
All
signs after a recent speech from Khamenei, who had waited out the first
week before commenting publicly, are that a crackdown is on the way.
It
seems he wanted to size up and analyze the protests and also show some
flexibility and sympathy to the economic anger underlying them, before
launching his crackdown.
If
he launches the crackdown now, and whether some Iranian military
elements finally defect to help protesters for the first time since the
Islamic Revolution of 1979, could be decisive.
There
is a twist with recent comments by US President Donald Trump that he
would intervene if Iran starts cracking down on its protesters, and some
are taking this seriously after he bombed the Islamic Republic in June
2025 and abducted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on Saturday.
But
those excited by Trump's statement should recall his statement on
December 29, when asked about the chances of regime change, in which he
implied the chances were low because he expected Khamenei to crack down
on the protesters, leaving no hint that he would intervene.
Yes, Trump ordered the bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites this past June.
But that was when Israel was doing the lion's share of the work, including eliminating Iranian radar and air defenses.
Israel
has no plans to intervene for Iranian regime change, so Trump would be
on his own this time, risking American lives against an enemy far more
formidable than Maduro and Venezuela.
Also,
right or wrong, Trump has framed his conflict with Venezuela as a
counterstrike against a quieter, steadier drug war that the country and
other Latin American countries have waged with the US.
In
contrast, Trump has run in the other direction any time someone
mentioned helping build democracy or nation-building in the Middle East.
It
is hard to see him using sufficient and sustained US power to prevent
the regime from a domestic crackdown within its own territory.
All of this makes the coming days critical for the protests.
Either
they will increase in size, focus, leadership, and gain some kind of
military support, or they will likely start taking a much harsher hit
from the regime, which will cap their size and momentum, and eventually
lead to them petering out like prior protests, even if that process may
take time.
