Argentina learned the background of the Venezuelan plane with Iranian crew members on Monday, June 6, at 07:00 pm, a few hours after it had landed first in Córdoba and then at the Ezeiza airport.
However, there are two versions of how the Argentine authorities found out. Senior government sources told the newspaper The nation that the attache of the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) in Paraguay warned the intelligence agency about the background of the aircraft. The other version indicates that the United States Department of Justice, directly from Washington, made these data known late on Monday. The information came first by phone and then in writing, official sources said.
In the version of the government sources, the AFI comptroller, Agustín Rossi, learned of the information and informed the Minister of Security, Aníbal Fernández, who kept President Alberto Fernández informed of the matter. In fact, on Tuesday, June 7, before leaving for Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas, the president discussed this issue with Aníbal Fernández. On Thursday the 9th, the president already knew about the Venezuelan plane issue when he spoke in the United States about the blockade against Cuba and the sanctions against Venezuela.
In the Casa Rosada version, even though Argentina I knew that this plane had Iranian crew members suspected of belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, which for the United States is a terrorist organization, nothing could be done, given that the Argentine companies did not fill them with fuel to leave the country.
The plane of the Emtrasur company, a subsidiary of the Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (Conviasa), is under sanctions from the Office of Foreign Assets Control and Sanctions of the US Department of the Treasury (OFAC). The Boeing 747-3B3 (M) Dreamliner with registration YV3531 was purchased by Emtrasur from the Iranian Mahan Air, which is accused by the United States of transporting military cargo on civil aircraft. And on board was Ghasemi Gholamreza, captain of the ship and whose name coincides with a military man from the Quds Force, from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, listed by the United States as a terrorist organization.
In the government they said that the plane should have left on Tuesday of last week, but since they did not sell fuel, it could not be moved. They explained that the aircraft was supplied with fuel through a broker who had bought it in Bolivia, but that to load it he had to fly there and had no way to do it.
They indicated in the government that there was no impediment for the Iranians to leave the country, at least until today when the ban on leaving the country was ordered until they are investigated. “Argentina couldn’t do anything once it landed. If we had known about this information earlier, the plane would not have landed here,” said this government source.
Desde Washington
Other sources, who do not rule out these AFI channels, said that between Monday night and Tuesday, with the Venezuelan plane already landed in Ezeiza, a communication arrived from the United States Department of Justice in Washington, without the intervention of the Embassy. in Buenos Aires, warning Argentina of the problems of the mysterious plane.
The North American communication requested the full identification of the crew members by Argentine authorities, the sources told The nation. They indicated that the Americans suspected Gholamreza, and because Paraguay had already denied him the possibility of landing. The Americans specified that there was a GSA, which is a general sanction against Conviasa, the state company of the government of Nicolás Maduro, owner of the aircraft; and a specific sanction from the United States for the history of the crew linked to the Islamic Guard.
That information reached officials on the state line. By that time, Uruguay had already refused the aircraft to land there to refuel. The United States was tracking the plane following its flight, and so they warned Argentina and then Uruguay, the sources said.
The plane was allowed to return to Argentina. Unlike what happened on the other shore, there was no political reaction here. At least until someone leaked the information on Friday of last week to the opposition, which made it public and sparked the scandal.
Judicially there was no impediment against the crew or the aircraft, until the prosecutor Cecilia Incardona, on Monday, initiated a case before the federal judge of Lomas de Zamora Federico Villena, to investigate the Iranians and the Venezuelans.
The legal framework
The legislation in Argentina does not contemplate the new approach that was given since 2006 to the persecution of terrorism, from the United Nations Organization. Warlike actions were preferred, advancing with the idea that the country is not comfortable for terrorism. That is why the legislation was adapted in other countries to be stricter and prevent States from being permeable.
Thus, in this paradigm shift, there is talk of carrying out disruptive actions from the application of the law to prevent, that is, to prevent suspects of these activities from transiting or entering the country, with the initiation of legal proceedings in the event of the possible commission of crimes.
Until now, the investigation has detected oddities and unusual situations, such as the origin of the plane, its previous route, the American alerts, the number of people on board and even the way in which they were hired by a North American logistics company to do this trip with auto parts. All weird, but nothing criminal.