The government The Argentine questioned this Thursday that justice continues to retain the passports of the crew of the immobilized plane since June at the Buenos Aires airport, in the context of a case for possible links of its crew (5 Iranians and 14 Venezuelans) with international terrorism.
“It is an issue that is in the hands of justice and yes, we are concerned that there are citizens detained without a resolution from the justice system as to why or how much or what they should be detained for. It would be interesting if the justice system might solve this problem as soon as possible,” said the presidential spokeswoman, Gabriela Cerruti, at a press conference.
The plane, a Boeing 747 Dreamliner cargo, was owned by the Iranian company Mahan Air and currently belongs to Emtrasur, a subsidiary of the Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (Conviasa), companies that are sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury.
The aircraft entered Argentina on June 6 from Mexico, making a stopover in Venezuela, presumably to transfer cargo to an automotive company, and two days later it took off to go to Uruguay to load fuel, but landed once more at the local Argentine airport. Ezeiza from Buenos Aires because the neighboring country did not allow his landing.
The Argentine oil companies did not fuel the plane for fear of US sanctions and later, on June 11, it was reported that the Argentine government had ordered the plane to be grounded.
A few days later, a judge ordered to withhold the passports and prevent the crew members from leaving the country, who otherwise have full freedom of movement, while seizing the plane to obtain more information regarding the ship and what the members of the flight did in Buenos Aires.
The general manager of operations of Emtrasur, Víctor Pérez, indicated on June 27 that there is no “hidden intention” of the crew members. He added that the presence of Iranians was because they were flight instructors.
The case generated a strong controversy in Argentina, a country that suffered two terrorist attacks in the 1990s – once morest the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) and once morest the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires- for which the local justice points to the Hezbollah group and members of the then Iranian government.
