The Emtrasur cargo plane, which was sold to Venezuela by Iranian Mahan Air a year ago, according to the Iranian airline, arrived in Buenos Aires on June 8, according to flight tracking data. It was then seized by authorities, the lawmaker and Iranian media reported. The Argentine government has not publicly confirmed the seizure, but an interior ministry document leaked to Reuters said authorities had taken action on suspicion of the alleged reason for the plane’s entry into the country. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Iran and Venezuela, both of which are under US sanctions, have close ties. The two countries signed a 20-year co-operation plan on Saturday. Argentina’s center-left President Alberto Fernandes has criticized US sanctions against Venezuela. The Argentine government did not respond to a request for comment by Reuters. Authorities in Venezuela did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Sunday, Argentine MP Gerardo Millman, who has been drawing attention to the case in recent days, filed a complaint with a judge requesting that fingerprints be taken from the crew and that the information be shared with the Federal Intelligence Service. “Our information is that this is a plane that has come to carry out information in Argentina,” said Millman, a member of the Intelligence Committee of the country’s Congress. According to the Interior Ministry document, shared by Reuters with Milman, 14 Venezuelans and 5 Iranians were traveling on the plane. Mention the names of the passengers. Argentine courts must also rule on a habeas corpus filed by a lawyer in order for the crew to release the aircraft and return the passports to the occupants, Argentine media reported. It was not immediately clear whether the YV3531 aircraft was on a list of aircraft linked to Iran under US sanctions. Mahan Air has been under US sanctions since 2011 for its support of 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. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reports from the Dubai Newsroom and Lucila Sigal in Buenos Aires. Additional references by Vivian Sequera. Writes Alexander Vilelgas. Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Chris Reese Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
