TEHRAN, Jan 5, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Iran called on Monday for the release of Nicholas Maduro, the ousted president of Tehran's close ally Venezuela who was seized in a US military operation and taken to New York to stand trial.

"The president of a country and his wife were abducted. It's nothing to be proud of; it's an illegal act," foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said at a weekly press conference. "As the Venezuelan people have emphasised, their president must be released."