Argentina withholds passports of 5 Iranians after plane seizure

By Bala Chambers

LONDON (AA) - Argentine authorities on Monday ordered the passports of Iranian nationals to be withheld after their plane was seized at Ezeiza airport, Buenos Aires.

The Venezuelan Boeing 747 cargo plane with alleged ties to Iran was seized on Sunday.

Argentine judge Federico Villena ordered immigration authorities to withhold the passports of five Iranian citizens who were travelling to the South American nation, following a complaint.

A complaint was filed by the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) and the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), calling for the “total clarification” concerning events they describe as “worrying”.

Authorities in Argentina became aware of the situation following alerts from the US State Department.

According to DAIA, the Mahan Air company was allegedly "sanctioned by the United States for its links to terrorist activities”.

Judge Villena has declared that five Iranian nationals cannot leave Argentina in the next 72 hours.

Argentina's Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero has said that authorities are complying with strict protocols, denying there was "any type of diplomatic request from Venezuela" and called the situation "strictly a matter of security”.

Cafiero also said that the plane stop in Cordoba when fog that prevented it from touching down in Ezeiza, Buenos Aires, clarifying that “in this context, it went down to Córdoba and then went to Ezeiza”.

Cafiero added that the ongoing investigation "still has no results".

The plane belongs to the Venezuelan airline Emtrasur and was sold by Iranian company Mahan Air last year.

On Monday the plane landed with what were found to be auto parts.

Fourteen Venezuelan nationals were detained, only until authorities determined that only Iranian nationals' passports needed to be withheld.

Judge Villena has already rejected a request for habeas corpus from the crew's lawyer who called for the plane to be released.

According to MercoPress, the aircraft allegedly flew with its transponder turned off, preventing it from be identified and reports that some of the Iranians onboard allegedly have links to the "Quds Forces" - part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

Both Venezuela and Iran are currently under US sanctions and they last week signed a cooperation accord for 20 years.