The United States signaled a hardening stance against Iran and its allies in the Western Hemisphere on Sunday, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that Hezbollah would no longer be allowed to operate in Venezuela following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in Caracas.

Speaking a day after the operation, Rubio said Washington would not tolerate Venezuela serving as a platform for Iran or the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, framing the issue as a core U.S. security concern rather than a broader regime-change campaign.

“In the 21st century, under the Trump administration, we are not going to have a country like Venezuela in our own hemisphere acting as a crossroads for Hezbollah, for Iran, and for every other malign influence in the world,” Rubio said on CBS’ Face the Nation. “That’s just not going to exist.”

In a separate interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Rubio said the policy shift meant “no more Iran or Hezbollah presence” in Venezuela.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and designated by the United States as a terrorist organization, has long been accused by U.S. officials of maintaining networks in parts of Latin America. 

Rubio said Caracas must sever its ties with Tehran and Hezbollah as part of a broader effort to end what he described as Venezuela’s role as a haven for hostile foreign actors.

“We are not going to allow Iran and Hezbollah to operate freely in our hemisphere,” he said, adding that Venezuela had aligned itself with Iran and other “malign influences” at the expense of regional security.

He dismissed comparisons between U.S. actions in Venezuela and past Western military interventions in the Middle East, arguing that Washington’s approach was shaped by the specific threat posed by Iranian and Hezbollah activity in the region.

“This is not the Middle East,” Rubio said. “This is the Western Hemisphere, and the mission here is very different.”

Rubio said the United States remains committed to seeing Venezuela transition to democracy but stressed that the immediate priority was dismantling foreign networks linked to Iran and Hezbollah, which he said had exploited the country for years.

He cautioned against expectations of rapid political change, saying that decades of entrenched alliances and influence could not be reversed overnight, even as Washington moves to ensure that Venezuela no longer serves as a base for Iran or its allies.