Iran said on Monday that the detention of the Boeing 747 of the Venezuelan company Emtrasur that was transporting 14 Venezuelan crew members and five Iranians for a week in Argentina, after Uruguay rejected his arrival in the country, is part of a “propaganda operation” against Tehran.
In his weekly press conference in Tehran, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Said Khatibzadehrelated the case to the high current tension between Iran and Western countries over nuclear issues.
“The last few weeks are full of propaganda, psychological operations, war of words to provoke a feeling of insecurity (in Iran) and this case is part of it”said.
On June 8, the Emtrasur plane, which had been on Argentine soil since June 6, left for Uruguayafter the fuel companies YPF and Shell refused to recharge the plane for a trip to Caracas.
However, Uruguay rejected the arrival of the plane. The Minister of Defense, Javier García, announced this Sunday at a press conference that it was he who disavowed the landing, with information received by the Minister of the Interior, Luis Alberto Heber. “It is information that the Ministry of the Interior had received from foreign agencies, which was turned to Uruguay and, since the jurisdiction belongs to the Ministry of Defense, I am responsible for making that decision”claimed the hierarch.
The Emtrasur plane, with Venezuelan registration YV3531, was sanctioned by the United States within the framework of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), for his link to the Iranian airline Mahan Air accused of having terrorist links, according to a statement from the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) and the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA). By this situation, the transport was not allowed to fly over the Uruguayan sky.
“I think that more than a year ago, according to the (Iranian) company Mahan Airlines, that the plane was sold to Venezuela”Khatibzadeh said, recalling that not all the crew members are Iranian.
This incident took place while Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was visiting Tehran, where a 20-year cooperation agreement between the two oil-producing countries was signed on Saturday.both subject to US sanctions.
The Argentine authorities of the National Directorate of Migration (DNM) recognized that Uruguay’s rejection was key to retaining the Venezuelan plane and its passengers. They did so in the court ruling that rejected a request for habeas corpus for the five Iranians. If the measure was applied to Venezuelans, who already have their passports,
“The communication of PSA (Airport Security Police) that Uruguay did not allow entry, for Migrations was sufficient reason for suspicion “reads the document, which he agreed to The Observer.
Argentine authorities reported on Sunday that there are no detainees and that all the crew members were housed in hotels with provisional stay permits. The passengers’ lawyer, Rafael Resnick, remarked that “all the reports of all the people consulted gave that there are no restrictions” imposed on passengers, details the court ruling.
“The migratory situation had nothing to do with the reasonbecause the migratory situation was clear from the first time that Migrations acted and in the meantime new information is produced and is what causes the reason to be changed, due to reasonable doubts“, indicates the document regarding how the rejection of Uruguay changed the situation.
immigration officials they withheld the Iranians’ passports but said they could get them back sooner if they left the country on a regular scheduled flight while investigations continue.
tense context
since a few days, negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program between the major powers and Tehran have become tense.
Iran announced this week its decision to disconnect 27 surveillance cameras on its nuclear activitiesin response to a Western resolution passed on June 8 in which the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) denounced the lack of cooperation from the Islamic Republic.
Tehran’s reaction drew condemnation from Washington, Berlin, London and Pariswho urged Iran on Thursday to “end nuclear escalation”.
More than a year ago, talks began in Vienna to restore the 2015 international agreement that provided for the limitation of Iranian nuclear activities in exchange for the removal of international sanctions.
The pact has been moribund since then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States in 2018 and reinstated sanctions.
(With information from AFP)
