Protest-Hit Iran Warily Watches the US After Venezuela Raid
An anti-U.S. and Israeli billboard depicting symbolic images of coffins of U.S. and Israeli soldiers in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 6.
Photographer: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Getty Images
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran faces a new round of protests challenging the country's theocracy, but it seems like the only thing people there want to talk about is half a world away: Venezuela.
Since the U.S. military seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran, over the weekend, Iranian state media headlines and officials have condemned the operation. In the streets and even in some official conversations, however, there's a growing question over whether a similar mission could target the Islamic Republic's top officials including the supreme leader, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.