In Argentina, a decision was made to seize the cargo plane, which was detained in June and transferred to the Venezuelan airline company, for which the USA imposed sanctions.
According to the news in the Argentine press, Federal Judge Federico Villena has decided to confiscate the cargo plane, which was transferred from an Iranian airline to a Venezuelan airline, at the request of the USA.
It was stated that Villena took the decision to confiscate the plane within the framework of the law covering the mutual legal aid agreement between Argentina and the USA.
The fate of the plane, which has been at the International Ezeiza Airport near Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires since the beginning of June, will be decided by the judiciary of Argentina and the USA.
The US judiciary issued an order to confiscate the Venezuelan plane at the beginning of August and forwarded it to the Argentine authorities.
The detention of the Venezuelan plane in Argentina caused unease in the Venezuelan government.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro harshly criticized the stopping of the plane and crew in Argentina, saying, “They are brazenly trying to rob us in Argentina.” had used the phrase.
VENEZUELA AIRCRAFT RETAINED IN ARGENTINA
The Boeing 747-300 type cargo plane with registration number YV3531, whose usage rights were transferred to Emtrasur Cargo, a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state airline Conviasa, from the Iranian company Mahan Airlines, to which the US sanctioned, had arrived in Argentina from Caracas on 6 June.
According to the news of AA; The plane, which was planned to return to Caracas on June 7, could not make this flight due to lack of fuel, departed from Argentina to Uruguay on June 8 to get fuel, but returned to Argentina without getting any fuel after Uruguay closed its airspace.
It was determined that the cargo plane wanted by the security forces was carrying car parts. The Argentine Delegation of Israel Associations (DAIA) filed a complaint to investigate the plane and its crew, alleging that the Iranian crew were linked to the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Army, which the US declared a terrorist organization.
The passports of the crew of the plane, consisting of 5 Iranians and 14 Venezuelans, were confiscated and an exit ban was imposed. Later, Judge Villena lifted the ban on leaving the country for Mehdi Museli and 11 Venezuelans from the crew.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) forwarded the file to Judge Villena that the captain of the plane, Golamreza Qassemi, was linked to the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Army.