MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Alberto Fernández accuses opposition of seeking political gain from 747 case

The Argentine President maintained it was merely a problem with the fuel and US sanctions against a blacklisted aircraft

Argentine President Alberto Fernández Saturday argued the opposition had tried to make a political gain out of the Venezuelan-Iranian aircraft scandal by linking it “with such painful events as the AMIA bombing.”

Fernández insisted his political rivals tried to make the case look like “something it is not” and insisted his government had handled the case properly.

The head of state made those remarks in a radio interview during which he addressed the case of a Venezuelan-flagged Boeing 747-300 formerly owned by Iran's Mahan Air with a crew irregularly large (19 people of either Iranian or Venezuelan nationality) for a cargo aircraft.

The Emtrasur airplane, now owned by Venezuela's Emtrasur, a Conviasa subsidiary, is now at the Ezeiza international airport pending judiciary inquests.

“Some even dared to make some accusations of terrorism,” Fernández went on. “But well, these are the things that we, unfortunately, have to live with today in Argentina,” he added.

“What happened is that a Venezuelan aircraft arrived and there were no irregularities. There were five Iranian people on board, and, as far as we know, there are no restrictions of any kind. The same applies to the Venezuelans. Yes, there is a problem with the fuel load, because the sanctions imposed by the US may affect those who give fuel to that plane. It is an issue that must be resolved,” the head of state explained.

However, Fernández's statements would not match reports from Washington claiming that Gholamreza Ghasemi, the 747's captain, is an international terrorist who has been involved in various terrorist operations under orders from Tehran.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told Buenos Aires about Gholamreza Ghasemi's alleged association with designated terrorist groups, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF), and Hezbollah.

He is CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Fars Air Qeshm. “Ghasemi is also a pilot,” states a report sent from the United States to Federal Judge Federico Villena of Lomas de Zamora, in charge of the case.

The FBI dossier adds that “Fars Air Qeshm was flagged by the U.S. Treasury in 2019 due to its direct involvement in terrorist activity and the assistance it provides to the Quds Force and the Iranian airline Mahan Air, which have been flagged as terrorist entities.”

The Boeing 747-300M, with Venezuelan registration YV-3531, left Caracas, made a stopover in Querétaro (Mexico), where it lifted the cargo of auto parts, and finally landed at Ezeiza.

Opposition Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) Deputies Ricardo López Murphy and Gerardo Milman filed charges against Security Minister Aníbal Fernández and Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) Chief Agustín Rossi, for allegedly covering up the case. The plaintiffs argued that the Government officials “have tried from the very beginning not only to hide the true dimension” of the scandal while making up excuses regarding the airplane's crew, whose presence “jeopardize the peace and security of the region and of our country,” since it was “a plane in the service of terrorist organizations.”

They also invoked the FBI's report: “... Gholamreza Ghasemi, undoubtedly belongs to the Quds terrorist organization that serves the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran, a body involved in terrorist activities around the world,” they claimed.

In July of 1994, the headquarters of the AMIA Jewish welfare organization in Buenos Aires, were blown up in an attack Israel has always maintained had been supported by Hezbollah with help from Iran.