Argentina allows departure of some Venezuelan, Iranian crew of grounded plane

A Venezuelan-owned Boeing 747 taxis on the runway after landing in the Ambrosio Taravella airport in Cordoba, Argentina, Monday, June 6, 2022. Argentine officials are trying to determine what to do with the cargo plane loaded with automotive parts and an unusually large crew of 17, including at least five Iranians. The plane operated by Venezuela's state-owned Emtrasur cargo line has been stuck since June 6 at Buenos Aires' main international airport, unable to depart because of U.S. sanctions against Iran. and suspicions about its crew. (AP Photo/Sebastian Borsero)

Argentina allows departure of some Venezuelan, Iranian crew of grounded plane

The Times of Israel -August 2nd 2022

BUENOS AIRES — An Argentine judge investigating the Iranian and Venezuelan crew of a cargo plane that has been grounded in Buenos Aires since June authorized the departure of 12 of them on Monday, local media reported.

Federal judge Federico Villena did however order seven of the 19 to be retained in Argentina, the reports said, including four Iranians and three Venezuelans.

According to the ruling disclosed by the press, the judge considered that there were still elements to be investigated pertaining to Iranian Gholamrez Ghasemi, designated by the Argentine intelligence service as a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, as well as three other Iranians and three Venezuelans.

The plane in question arrived in Argentina from Mexico on June 6, with 14 Venezuelans and five Iranians on board, before trying to fly to Uruguay two days later, where it was refused entry.

Uruguay’s Interior Minister Luis Alberto Heber said his country had received a “formal warning from Paraguayan intelligence.”

The plane then returned to Argentina where it has been grounded ever since.

Police officers confiscate a box of documents during a judicial raid at the Plaza Central Hotel where the crew of a Venezuelan-owned Boeing 747 cargo plane are staying, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

The aircraft belongs to the company Emtrasur, a subsidiary of the Venezuelan Conviasa, which is under sanctions from the US Treasury Department. It was bought a year ago from the Iranian airline Mahan Air, which the United States has accused of links to the Revolutionary Guards.

The Iranian connections are sensitive for Argentina, which has issued warrants for a number of former Iranian leaders for the 1994 attack against the AMIA Jewish center that left 85 dead and some 300 injured.