The mystery and controversy surrounding the Venezuelan-Iranian plane that has been held in Buenos Aires for a week

for more than a week Argentina closely follow the fate of a plane on the ground. The aircraft, a Venezuelan-Iranian Boeing 747 Dreamliner cargo, remains held at the international airport in Buenos Aires. His crew, who is also prohibited from leaving the country, is under suspicion for possible links to international terrorism in a case that has put the level of mystery, controversy and confusion in the air.

The plane was owned by the Iranian company Mahan Air and currently belongs to Emtrasur, a subsidiary of the Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (Conviasa), companies that are sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury.

LOOK: Plane seized in Argentina complied with international protocols in Mexico

With a crew of five Iranians and 14 Venezuelans, the ship entered Argentina on June 6 from Mexico, after stopping in Venezuela, bound for the Ezeiza international airport. She was transporting a load of auto parts for different Argentine auto parts companies that are suppliers of automotive multinationals. In the Argentine capital, her load was verified without problems.

On Wednesday he took off to go to Uruguay to refuel, but landed again at the Argentine airport because the neighboring country did not allow his landing. Back in Argentina, the oil companies did not want to supply the ship due to a possible sanction from the United States.

Since then, the actions of the Argentine government and justice against the ship have been increasing. Initially, the government immobilized the plane in Ezeiza and withheld the passports of five Iranian crew members after suspecting the reasons for their flight to the country. They then stated that there were no detainees and that all the crew members had been housed at the Canning Plaza Hotel, located in Ezeiza, with temporary stay permits.

Police officers during a judicial raid on the hotel where the plane’s crew is staying in Buenos Aires. (Photo: AP) (Gustavo Garello /)

This week the controversy increased. On Monday, the justice ordered to retain the passports and prevent the Iranian crew from leaving the country for 72 hours on suspicion that one of them could belong to companies linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Subsequently, he ordered the search of the hotels to seize their phones and withheld the passports of the 14 Venezuelans on the crew. And this Wednesday, the seizure of the plane was ordered as part of an investigation for possible links to international terrorism.

“The objective is to search for documents and traces that can help determine what the crew was doing in Buenos Aires. In addition, the judge prohibited the plane from leaving the airport”, says the Argentine newspaper “La Nación”.

The suspicions

Given the scandal caused by the plane and its crew, whose presence has been criticized by the opposition and the Jewish community, Security Minister Aníbal Fernández gave more details earlier in the week. He stated that the government received information from foreign intelligence agencies that “warned of the membership of part of the crew to companies related to the Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards”, a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, defined by United States as a terrorist organization.

The suspicions were based on the fact that one of the crew members, the Iranian Gholamreza Gashemi, has the same name as a member of the Quds Forces. However, Fernández himself ruled out that theory on Wednesday and stated that it was only a homonym.

Another factor that has caused suspicion in Argentina is the number of crew members. Almost 20 people constitute a suspiciously bulky group to transport auto parts by air. Paraguay, the country where the plane had been in May, had already warned the CIA and the Israeli Mossad of the anomalous number of crew members.

He added that “so far nothing has been found” linking the cargo plane of the Venezuelan company Emtrasur and its 19 crew members to illegal activities. But he pointed out that “it is a possibility” that the Iranian occupants are actually flight instructors for the rest of the crew of Venezuelan nationality.

(Photo: Reuters) (STRINGER/)

“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 information from international agencies regarding the plane, not regarding the people”, Fernandez reiterated from the Casa Rosada.

Fernández affirmed this Wednesday that the country’s authorities followed “all the steps” regarding the plane, complying with all the established protocols. However, the Argentine opposition and media criticize the government for not having acted more quickly.

“Later, it was learned that the Paraguayan government had alerted Argentina to the risks of that plane, which the United States had associated with terrorist activities.”, said “La Nación” in its editorial this Wednesday.

For his part, Ricardo Roa, general editor of the newspaper “Clarín” described the case as a “monumental scandal.” “[La nave] It was from Iran and they say it is now from Venezuela, manned by twice the number of people it needs, five Iranians and 14 Venezuelans. And, to top it off, several, it is not known how many, ex-military”, he wrote in his last opinion column.

Juan Negri, director of the Political Science and International Studies degree at the Torcuato Di Tella University, speaks along the same lines and considers that there are several issues that cause the plane case to generate many doubts and uncertainty in the Government.

“In the first place, the purpose of the existence of this plane flying over the region is not clear, beyond the fact that the company announces that it is a cargo transport. The truth is that it has many more crew members than cargo planes usually have. In addition, it has passed through many countries in the region with practically no controls, some security agencies in the region had warned about the existence of this plane. In the Uruguayan case, it was not allowed to fly over the airspace”, he tells El Comercio.

He adds that the uncertainty revolves especially around whether this plane is linked to “intelligence, espionage or even terrorist tasks.”

Iran said Monday that the arrest of the plane in Argentina is part of a “propaganda operation” against Tehran.

Iran appeared involved in the investigations of the attack against the AMIA in Buenos Aires, which left 85 dead in 1994. (Photo: GETTY IMAGES)

sensitive topic

For Argentina, the presence of Iranian travelers is always a sensitive issue. The country was the target of two terrorist attacks linked to that nation. The first blew up the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992. In 1994, the second destroyed the headquarters of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA), the center of the Argentine Jewish community, leaving 85 dead and some 300 injured.

According to the Argentine justice, both attacks were devised by the Iranian regime. Based on these events, there are red arrest warrants issued by Interpol against former Iranian rulers, accused of links to the AMIA attack.

For Negri, the fact that part of the crew of this aircraft are Iranians and the uncertainty of their tasks in the region make this, for public opinion, the opposition and the government. topic generates a lot of resentment.

He adds that the consequences of what happened will depend a lot on what the Argentine justice system determines about the activities of the plane. “If it is proven that they came to do intelligence and espionage tasks, it is highly likely that this will cool relations with the Iranian government. It is also likely that this will be a blow to the Argentine government because in some way its intelligence agencies are vulnerable and in the eyes of public opinion this may appear as a major slip-up by the current ruling party”it states.

For this reason, media such as “La Nación” have affirmed that it is essential that the Argentine Justice thoroughly investigate the crew of the aircraft held at the Ezeiza airport.

“The suspicions that, behind a commercial screen, there are intentions linked to actions associated with espionage or terrorism should not be dismissed just like that, especially with the background that weighs on Iran […] In this context, it is to be hoped that the Argentine Justice will act with the necessary responsibility and speed, without admitting pressure of any kind until the purposes of those who occupied the aircraft are elucidated and, eventually, any of the serious suspicions are dispelled.”, he stated in his editorial.

Source: Elcomercio