The Argentine Justice ordered this Wednesday the seizure of the Venezuelan-Iranian plane held at the international airport of Buenos Aires, within the framework of an investigation for possible links with international terrorism, judicial sources confirmed to Efe.
(Read: What is a group of Iranian influencers doing in Venezuela?)
According to these sources, Justice decided to seize the aircraft in order to obtain more information about what the flight crew was doing in Buenos Airesmade up of five Iranians and 14 Venezuelans, whose passports were also previously withheld.
(You are interested in: The fears generated in the region by Venezuela’s alliance with Iran)
The exact time of seizure of the plane is still unknown and the cause remains a summary secret, these sources concluded.
The plane in question, a Cargo Boeing 747 Dreamliner, was owned by the Iranian company Mahan Air and currently belongs to Emtrasura subsidiary of the Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (Conviasa), companies that are sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury.
The aircraft entered Argentina on June 6 with a cargo from Mexico, after a stopover in Venezuela, bound for the Ezeiza international airport, and on Wednesday it took off to go to Uruguay to load fuel, but landed again at the Argentine airport because the neighboring country did not allow its landing.
In Argentina, the oil companies do not load fuel to the plane for fear of US sanctions.
In compliance with the “Implementation Program in Tourism Cooperation between MINTUR and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Crafts of the Islamic Republic of Iran 2021-2023” today 23 Iranian tour operators arrive on Margarita Island.🇻🇪🇮🇷🇻🇪 🇮🇷@NicolasMaduro pic.twitter.com/XkzDLoDPTe
– Ali Ernesto Padrón Paredes (@AliErnesto32) June 13, 2022
Since this week, the Argentine Justice has been carrying out an investigation to elucidate the possible links between the crew and international terrorism, since one of its members, the Iranian Gholamreza Gashemi, has the same name as a member of the Quds Forces, a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, defined by the United States as a terrorist organization.
The Argentine Security Minister, Aníbal Fernández, stated this Wednesday that the country’s authorities followed “all the steps” with respect to the plane, complying with all the established protocols.
Likewise, the chief of staff, Juan Manzur, maintained that all the areas involved in this case “already explained in great detail” what happened and pointed out that the issue “is in the hands of Justice.”
Argentina has suffered two terrorist attacks in the 1990s -on the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) and the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires- and the local Justice has pointed out powerful people from Iran and the Hezbollah group as responsible.
Do you understand gravity?
The ruling party voted against the Ministers going to Congress to report on the Venezuelan-Iranian plane… what do they have to hide? pic.twitter.com/D5HNxYqXF4
– Dani Lerer (@danilerer) June 15, 2022
Crew member does not belong to the Quds
Argentina ruled out this Wednesday that one of the 19 crew members of the Venezuelan cargo plane held in Buenos Aires belongs to the Al Quds forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and assured that only his name matches.
“It has the status of homonym, nothing else“, Security Minister Aníbal Fernández told the press when reporting on the verification carried out by the Federal Police.
Fernández made reference to Gholamreza Ghasemi, one of the five Iranians held along with 14 other Venezuelan crew members of the cargo aircraft that arrived in Argentina on June 6 with auto parts and is under judicial investigation.
From our checkup, carried out by the Federal Police, no data emerges that changes what has happened up to now.
Al Quds, an elite force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States. Although Argentina does not include it on its list, one of its members does appear individually.
The minister stressed that none of the crew had an impediment to enter Argentina, but specified that “later we received some data from international agencies regarding the plane, not the people.”
The 19 crew members are prohibited from leaving the country, due to an investigation initiated on Sunday by federal judge Federico Villena. The case is under summary secrecy. The judge ordered Tuesday a search of the hotel rooms where the 19 crew members are staying.
During this procedure, cell phones and documents were seized, and the ban on leaving the country that already weighed on the five Iranians was extended to the 14 Venezuelans.
The judge decides to search, by telephone, and finally extended the measure he had taken with the five Iranians to the 14 Venezuelans whose passports were withheld from all of them.
He also stated that he contacted the Minister of the Interior of Paraguay, Federico González, the country where the plane had been in May.
Argentina considers the presence of Iranian travelers sensitive, due to the red capture alerts issued by Interpol that apply to former rulers of that country, accused of the attack against the AMIA Jewish center in 1994 that left 85 dead and some 300 injured.
The Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA) is part of the lawsuit in the judicial investigation into the plane case.
Argentina ‘complied with all the steps’
The Argentine Government stated this Wednesday that “all the steps” were fulfilled Regarding the Venezuelan plane held at the Buenos Aires airport, an aircraft sanctioned by the US and whose crew, 5 Iranians and 14 Venezuelans, have their passports withheld by the Justice, in the framework of an investigation for possible links with the international terrorism.
The personnel (of the flight) did not have any type of impediment to enter the country, nor did they have a red code from Interpol, or anything like that. Until then, the checks are automatic.
“Subsequently, we received some data from international agencies regarding the plane, not regarding the people,” Fernandez reiterated from the Casa Rosada, seat of the Executive Branch.
The official again clarified that only one member of the crew, the Iranian Gholamreza Gashemi, had some kind of warning against him, having the same name as a member of the Quds Forces.
“A few minutes ago, from our check-up carried out by the Federal Police, no data emerged that would change what had happened up to this moment,” stressed the head of Security.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
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