Related To Iran, Venezuelan Cargo Plane Detained In Argentina: Accused Of Intelligence Operations

Illustration of an Emtrasur cargo plane. (Source: Planespotters.net/Dara Zarbaf)

JAKARTA - Argentinean authorities grounded a Venezuelan Boeing 747 cargo plane linked to Iran, a local opposition lawmaker and Iranian state media said on Sunday.

The Emtrasur cargo plane, which was sold to Venezuela by Iran's Mahan Air a year ago according to the Iranian airline, arrived in Buenos Aires on June 8, according to flight tracking data.

The plane was later seized by the authorities, Iranian lawmakers and media said.

The Argentine government has not publicly confirmed the seizure, but an Interior Ministry document shared with Reuters said authorities had taken action out of suspicion over the stated reasons for the plane entering the country.

Iran and Venezuela, both of which are under US sanctions, have close ties. The two countries on Saturday signed a 20-year cooperation plan. Meanwhile, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez criticized US sanctions against Venezuela.

The Argentine government did not respond to a Reuters question seeking comment about the plane. Authorities in Venezuela did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Sunday, Argentine lower house lawmaker Gerardo Milman, who has raised concerns about the case in recent days, filed a complaint with the judge asking to fingerprint the crew and share information with the Federal Intelligence Service.

"Our information is that this is a plane that came to conduct intelligence in Argentina," said Milman, a member of the country's Congressional Intelligence Commission.

According to Interior Ministry documents, shared with Reuters by Milman, 14 Venezuelans and 5 Iranians traveled on the plane. Their names are listed in the flight manifest.

Argentine courts must also rule on habeas corpus filed by a lawyer to the crew, to release the plane and return passports to those on board, Argentine media reported.

It was not immediately clear whether the plane, tail number YV3531, was on the list of aircraft linked to Iran under US sanctions. Mahan Air has been under US sanctions since 2011, for his support for Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

"Ownership of the plane was transferred a year ago and sold to a Venezuelan company," Mahan's spokesman, Amir Hossein Zolanvari, told the official IRNA news agency.