Venezuelan aircraft are ferrying advanced ballistic missile components from Iran to Syria in violation of UN Security Council sanctions, the Italian newspaper La Stampa reported on Monday.
The parts, which include computers and engine components that appear on a UN list of items that member nations are forbidden to buy from Iran, would likely be seized by US or allied forces were they being shipped aboard Iranian or Syrian aircraft.
But few in the West are willing to add Venezuela to the list of countries they are in open conflict with at present.
That hasn't stopped Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez from doing his best to insert his nation into any conflict involving the United States and Israel.
Chavez has signed a number of strategic cooperation pacts with both Syria and Iran, and has reportedly allowed Lebanese terror group Hizballah to set up camp in his country.