Earlier this week, the United States** flew an impounded Boeing 747-300 cargo plane from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a military airport in South Florida.
The Boeing freighter once belonged to Iran's Mahan Air, which is controlled by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In response to the U.S. belief that Mahan Air regularly supported alleged terrorist activities, Mahan Air transferred the aircraft to Emtrasur, a subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned airline Conviasa, in accordance with an agreement between Iran and Venezuela.
Immediately, the United States** accused Iran of using emtrasur and sending illegal goods around the world and evading sanctions. In June 2022, when the freighter stopped in Buenos Aires, the local jet fuel supplier** refused to refuel it in response to the sanctions initiated by the United States. Subsequently, the Argentine court judge seized the cargo plane on the grounds that the aircraft was carrying officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Venezuelan military intelligence officers on board the plane on possible illegal missions. After 18 months of legal communication between the United States and Argentina, the cargo plane was allowed to be transferred to the United States.
Analysts say the victory is a sign of the success of the U.S. sanctions policy, which provides a clear path forward for future seizures of Iranian planes. The five Airbus 340 aircraft currently operated by Conviasa were all purchased by Mahan Air in violation of U.S. sanctions, and the U.S. can file an arrest order when these aircraft land in a third country, through judicial means. At the same time, pressure was put on the allies to close the airspace to the transit Conviasa aircraft, making it impossible to continue operations.
Analysts also said that after Argentina seized the Boeing freighter, Conviasa had already canceled flights to Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, retaining only routes to Mexico, Nicaragua and Cuba in the Americas, as well as flights to Iran, Russia and Syria. As a result, the U.S. could take judicial seizure action in Mexico to recover the Airbus 340.