The national government will wait “the procedure to follow” that the justice establishes around the Venezuelan cargo planeheld in Ezeiza for 72 hours, while the documentation of the aircraft and the 19 people who were traveling on it, of which 14 are Venezuelans and 5 Iranians, are analyzed.
This was explained on Monday by Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero, who stressed that it is a “strictly” security issue and that Argentina did not receive “any kind of diplomatic request from Venezuela.”
“It is strictly a matter of security. The Airport Security Police (PSA) acted well, in accordance with the regulations and became (a) judicial issue. When the procedure to be followed is determined in court, that will be what we are going to do,” the foreign minister explained in statements to FM Urbana Play radio.
This is the Venezuelan cargo plane that entered the country last week with 19 people on board, 14 of them of Venezuelan nationality and the rest Iranian. The aircraft is located at the Ministro Pistarini International Airport, after passing through Córdoba and departing from Ezeiza for Uruguay, where its entry was refused.
According to information released by the AFP news agency, Iran linked what happened to the prevailing tension between Tehran and Western countries over nuclear issues and considered that it is part of certain “operations” to sow “suspicion” about that nation.
“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 Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Khatibzadeh, according to the report. international agency.
The official further added: “I think it was more than a year ago, according to the (Iranian) company Mahan Airlines, that the plane was sold to Venezuela.”
Meanwhile, Cafiero insisted -in dialogue with Radio Nacional- that it is “an investigation in court” and, therefore, “the measures that the federal court is taking, are marking the path of the actions that it has to be taking government”.
“We acted under the regulations that have to act in these cases and the Justice immediately intervened,” the chancellor stressed.
For his part, the Minister of Security, Aníbal Fernández, reported that upon entering the country none of the plane’s crew had red alerts, but “subsequently information from foreign organizations is received through different channels” warnings about “the belonging of part of the crew to companies related to the Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards”.
“Argentina has respect and relationship with all sovereign countries, but if there are situations of these characteristics, it must take certain actions”Fernandez clarified in statements to Radio Perfil.
The official nonetheless remarked that “they were never denied the possibility that they could move in Argentina with a provisional permit,” but there was “some complication in the paperwork of the aircraft and situations to review and define” in the face of complaints from international organizations.
In this context, the auto parts company SAS Automotriz SA clarified that the plane was contracted for “the transport of components destined for the production of instrument panels and seats for the Taos model, coming from the city of Querétaro, Mexico.”
“The relationship between the Forwarder and the airline for the aforementioned pieces to arrive in Argentina is something that SAS Automotriz Argentina SA is unaware of and has no relationship with”the company said in a statement.
However, they pointed out that the cargo was released after customs control.
The chancellor recounted this Monday part of the circuit made by the plane, which, he said, “at first he stopped in Córdoba” before heading to Uruguay, where the government of that country prevented his entry.
“He stopped in Córdoba on those days of a lot of fog that the planes could not go down in Ezeiza. In that context, he went down to Córdoba and then went to Ezeiza,” he explained.
Meanwhile, he explained “the Argentine security forces held him” and that led to the investigation that “still has no results.”
“This topic, of course, activates all sensitivities and is something totally reasonable. We want to be very cautious and separate things. We continue with our claims to the Iranian government that there be collaboration for the background investigation in the AMIA case and it is something that We are going to continue to complain permanently,” he stressed.
In addition, he stated that in that cause, “the red alerts were renewed” and, although Argentina “continues with its claim and investigation,” there are always obstacles “by this part of the Iranian government that does not agree to collaborate with the Argentine justice system.”
The federal judge of Lomas de Zamora, Federico Villena, today ordered the Migration Directorate to withhold the passport of the five Iranians who were traveling on the plane.
