US Government Seizes Grounded Iranian Boeing 747
- The US government has seized a Boeing 747-300M aircraft that was illegally transferred from an Iranian-sanctioned organization to Venezuela.
- The aircraft violated American export control laws and had a checkered past before being detained in Argentina since 2022.
- Venezuela has challenged the seizure and accused the US and Argentinian governments of violating civil aeronautics regulations.
The United States Government has finally seized a Boeing 747-300M aircraft that was sold by an Iranian-sanctioned organization to Venezuela that violated American export control laws. Bearing registration YV3531, that aircraft has had a checkered past and has since touched down in Florida, where it will be disposed of.
The aircraft had initially been transferred from Mahan Air, which US sanctions have restricted for years. They allegedly had been providing support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps before moving the aircraft to Emtrasur, which is a Venezuelan cargo carrier, another organization that the US currently sanctions.
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Transferred without permission
US officials have stated that without US government authorization, the movement of this aircraft violated its export control laws and, in return, benefited Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The justice department stated that since we have detained the aircraft, it will be ‘prepared for disposition.’ The aircraft pictured below is the same variant, belonging to another carrier:
In a statement released by the US Justice Department and reported by ABC, the head of the department’s national security division, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, stated:
“The Justice Department is committed to ensuring that the full force of US laws denies hostile state actors the means to engage in malign activities that threaten our national security,”
Venezuela has kicked back, noting that the seizure was a ‘shameful rapacious operation.’ It has vowed to challenge the situation with further comments to “take all actions to restore justice and achieve the restitution of the aircraft to its legitimate owner.” However, further instructions on their plan have yet to be made public.
The Presidential administration of Venezuela has now also accused the US and Argentinian governments of violating civil aeronautics regulations and the political, polite, and commercial rights of the Venezuelan carrier, Emtrasur.
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Detained since 2022
The aircraft has been detained by Argentina law enforcement since June 2022, and just a few weeks ago, US officials moved to take possession, with the custody of the aircraft transferred to the United States on Sunday.
Of the same variant as pictured above, the detained aircraft, YV3531 (serial number 23413), first took flight in January 1986 and was delivered to French airline Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) under registration F-GETA; it remained in their possession until 1992, before being transferred to Air France, then stored from 2006.
Mahan Air took control of the aircraft in 2007, where its registration was changed to EK-74713, and subsequently EP-MND, before its move to South America, to Emtrasur Cargo, where it then claimed its current registration, and was nicknamed ‘Luisa Cáceres De Arismendi.’ According to Airfleets, it’s powered by four General Electric CF6-50E2 engines.
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Grounded Cargo Boeing 747 Ordered To Be Turned Over To The US
A Argentinian judge has agreed to allow the United States Marshal Service to reprocess a Emtrasur 747 held in Argentina
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