The Boeing 747-300 M of Venezuelan Emtrasur Cargo has been stationed at the Aeropuerto Internacional Ministro Pistarini in Buenos Aires since June 6th. She’s not coming away. Because no one wants to refuel them since ties between the crew and the airline to Iran were exposed.
Argentine authorities have been detaining five Iranians since the plane was searched. Paraguay had previously warned them that a senior representative of Iran’s notorious Quds Force was on board the Boeing 747, registration number YV3531. When they had confirmation of this, “we warned our colleagues in the region and in other parts of the world,” Esteban Aquino, head of Paraguayan intelligence, told AFP.
The Quds Force (also: Quds Brigades or Al-Quds Brigades) is an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that conducts special operations abroad. It plays a particularly important role in the Syrian conflict and also helped keep President Bashar al-Assad in power. Tehran emphasizes that the Quds force is helping to fight IS. However, a declared goal is also to destroy the State of Israel. The United States classifies the unit as a terrorist. In 2020, then-Chief General Qasem Soleimani was killed by a US drone.
Last week, on the orders of a federal judge, Argentine authorities re-examined the Boeing 747. The black box was also confiscated, as the Infobae portal writes. The investigators want to know what was discussed in the cockpit. Because the Boeing 747 was noticed by a strange route and the partial switching off of the transponder.
Although the Boeing 747-300 M carries the livery of Conviasa’s new cargo subsidiary Emtrasur Cargo, it previously operated for Iran’s Mahan Air as EP-MND for 14 years. And there are indications that this is actually still the case today and that the Venezuelan cargo airline only serves as a front company. “The property has remained with Mahan Air as the Conviasa only leased it,” an insider told Israel Hayom newspaper.
It’s not the only aircraft that Mahan Air leases to domestic and international airlines. Operating under the name of non-sanctioned airlines will help the Iranian airline avoid problems abroad due to sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries, the source said in the report.
One person in particular is the focus of the investigations in Argentina: Captain Gholamreza Qasemi. According to Israel Hayom, he is a former Aerospace Forces General of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He was also involved in the Fars Air Qeshm flights that transported arms and ammunition to Syria via Lebanon.
Mahan Air denies owning the Boeing 747. The US and other countries have accused the airline of not only flying weapons but also soldiers from the Quds Force and Hezbollah to war zones across the Middle East. That is why it is no longer allowed to land in Germany.
This article was written by Stefan Eiselin
The original of this article “Boeing 747 runs aground at the airport – because of a dodgy pilot, the case becomes a crime thriller” comes from aeroTelegraph.
