US DOJ asks Argentina to seize Boeing 747 freighter linked to Iran

A local opposition politician and Iranian state media said on Sunday that Argentine authorities had grounded a Venezuelan Boeing 747 freight plane with ties to Iran. This evolving scenario is shining a spotlight on political undercurrents in Latin America. The Emtrasur cargo plane, which Iran’s Mahan Air claimed it sold to Venezuela a year ago, touched down in Buenos Aires on June 8 according to flight monitoring information. The legislator and Iranian media said that officials afterwards confiscated it.

Iran and Venezuela are both subject to U.S. sanctions and have a close relationship. A 20-year plan of cooperation was inked by the two nations on Saturday. Alberto Fernandez, the center-left president of Argentina, has denounced the United States’ sanctions against Venezuela.

14 Venezuelans and 5 Iranians were on board, according to a document from the Interior Ministry that Milman released. The names of everyone on board were listed. According to source Argentine media, a lawyer filed a habeas corpus in Argentina asking for the crew to release the plane and restore passengers’ passports. Argentinian authorities also searched the 747 and found “a Mahan Air flight log documenting the aircraft’s flights after the unlawful transfer to Emtrasur.

Acting Assistant Director of Counterterrorism Kevin Vorndran of the FBI said, “This seizure underscores the FBI’s tenacity in using all of our powers to hold the Iranian Government and related people and businesses accountable when they violate US laws. The FBI, along with our international allies, will continue to look for those people who advance Iran’s malicious operations and make sure they are brought to justice, regardless of where, or how, they attempt to hide.