none of Venezuela’s foreign relationships are more improbable than the regime’s close, deep ties to Iran. The two countries have little in common historically, geographically, or ideologically. The Islamic Republic is a theocracy; the Bolivarian Republic ostensibly promotes left-wing internationalism. What binds them is oil, anti-Americanism, opposition to their own democracy movements, and a shared need to learn the dark art of sanctions evasion.
