BEIRUT — Already struggling to recover from its war with Israel and losses in its leadership, Lebanon’s Hezbollah is expected to feel blowback from the US operation in Venezuela, where the Iranian-backed group is believed to run a major financial network.

On Saturday, the US launched a major operation in Venezuela, with large-scale strikes hitting several facilities including military installations. US special forces also captured President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores at the presidential compound in Caracas and took them to New York City, where they both pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of drug smuggling and working with terrorist groups.

Hezbollah was quick to condemn the “US aggression against Venezuela” in a statement Saturday, saying that it was “an unprecedented and blatant violation of the national sovereignty of an independent state, international law and United Nations charters, based on flimsy and false pretexts.”

The group expressed its “full solidarity” with the people of Venezuela and its president and called on all countries to condemn the US attack and back Caracas’ right to defend itself.