Argentina has seized a Boeing 747 owned by Iran's Mahan Air and leased it to a Venezuelan state-owned airline at Buenos Aires airport, Iranian state-controlled media reported on Sunday.
There was no official confirmation of the reports, published by state television and the semi-official ISNA news agency.
Officials for Mahan Airlines told Iranian state media outlets that the plane had been leased to a Venezuelan company for a year.
Aviacionline, a specialised aviation media outlet based in Argentina, said a Boeing 747-300M with the registration of YV3531 took off from Queretaro in Mexico late on June 5 and was initially bound for Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza Airport. The plane landed at Cordoba airport at noon on June 6 due to bad weather.
Mahan Air was designated by the US in 2011 for “providing financial, material and technological support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force”.
The US has claimed Iran has used Mahan Air for shipments to Venezuela to boost energy production for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government.
Mr Maduro is currently visiting Iran, where he signed a 20-year co-operation deal on Saturday.
