What happened with the Conviasa Boeing 747 stuck in Argentina?
Do you remember the Emtrasur Boeing 747, registration YV3531, stuck in Buenos Aires since June 6? The plane is still there and the political controversy surrounding it has only escalated. The Argentine president has spoken about it, and the US and Israeli governments are closely monitoring developments. What’s up with this plane? Let’s find out.
Still stuck
The Emtrasur Boeing 747-300 landed at Ezeiza International Airport (EZE), Buenos Aires, on June 6, after departing Mexico, making a stopover in Venezuela and an unscheduled diversion to Córdoba, Argentina .
The cargo plane is believed to have been carrying auto parts and has been detained in Ezeiza ever since. The crew briefly attempted to travel to Montevideo, Uruguay, but local authorities denied them entry and they had to return to Buenos Aires. They have been grounded there ever since.
The controversy surrounding the Emtrasur flight has not gone away. On board the flight were 19 cabin crew members, 14 Venezuelan citizens and five Iranian citizens. This large number of crew members and the fact that five of them are from Iran have raised alarm bells in Argentina.
Some politicians, members of the opposition to the current Argentinian government, have said that the arrival of Emtrasur’s Boeing 747 and its links to Iran and possibly the Quds Force are abnormal and suspicious.
According to the Paraguayan intelligence chief, a man on board the Emtrasur plane had links to the Iranian Quds Force. Captain Gholamreza Ghasemy not only shared a name with a member of the Al-Quds Force, but is in fact the same man, Paraguayan intelligence chief Esteban Aquino told AFP.
Nevertheless, the Argentine authorities quickly ruled out any possible terrorist links, reviewed the cargo and freed the crew (although they could not leave the country, according to the newspaper El Clarín). Despite this, the plane is still grounded in Buenos Aires and the crew of Emtrasur, both Venezuelan and Iranian citizens, have not left the country. Why is that?
This Emtrasur Boeing 747-300M has been grounded in Argentina since June 8. Photo: Getty Images.
The plane
Emtrasur’s aircraft is a Boeing 747-300M, registration YV3531, which first flew in 1986. Emtrasur (Conviasa’s cargo subsidiary) acquired the aircraft from Iran’s Mahan Air last year and received in January.
This is the first of three Boeing 747s that Emtrasur will purchase from Mahan Air. The cargo airline was using its “queen of the skies” in flights to countries including Mexico, Serbia, Russia, Aruba, Belarus and Paraguay, according to data from FlightRadar24.com.
Its ties to Iran and Venezuela explain why this plane has not been able to leave Argentina since June 8. No company wants to provide him with fuel or assistance, as they fear facing US government sanctions due to his ties to Mahan Air.
According to the US Treasury Department, Mahan Air is “a tool to spread (Iran’s) destabilization agenda around the world, including to corrupt regimes in Syria and Venezuela, as well as to terrorist groups throughout the Middle East.”
Argentina, the United States, Israel and Iran have spoken
This geopolitical incident has only worsened over the days. In Argentina, politicians are urging the government to seek help from the FBI. The president, Alberto Fernández, tried to calm the story down, saying it was an attempt by the political opposition to create a scandal out of nowhere.
Nevertheless, according to El Clarín, the plane was seized by local authorities and will be seen once again. In addition, a judge banned the crew members from leaving Argentina.
Marc R. Stanley, US Ambassador to Argentina, said the US government is closely following the police investigation into the crew and the plane. “We appreciate the investigative efforts of the Argentine authorities to clarify the situation,” he added.
Israel, through its embassy in Buenos Aires, has expressed concern about “the activity of the Iranian airline Mahan Air in Latin America, a company engaged in arms trafficking and the transfer of people and equipment operating for the Quds Force, which is sanctioned by the United States for its involvement in terrorist activities”.
Finally, Iran said on Monday that the detention of the Boeing 747 was part of a “propaganda operation” against Tehran. Speaking at his weekly press conference in Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Khatibzadeh linked the matter to the current high tension between Iran and Western countries over nuclear issues.
“The last few weeks have been full of propaganda, psychological operations and a war of words to create a feeling of insecurity (in Iran), and this case is one of them,” he said.
What do you think of this whole geopolitical incident? Let us know your comments below.
Sources: El Clarin, AFP, AP, FlightRadar24.com.