Esteban Aquino, head of the Paraguayan intelligence service, said this Friday (17).
“Captain Gholamreza Ghasemi is not a namesake. He is a person linked to Jerusalem,” Aquino told AFP, referring to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States.
Noting that the warning was “in time”, the official said, “When we received this confirmation, we alerted our colleagues in the region and other parts of the world.”
His statement contradicts the statements of Argentine Security Minister Anibal Fernández, who on Tuesday claimed that only the names were a coincidence.
“They’re homophones, nothing more,” said Fernández, reporting an identity check by the Federal Police.
A cargo Boeing 747 and its crew, consisting of 14 Venezuelans and five Iranians, were detained in Buenos Aires for a week as part of a judicial investigation. Justice banned the 19 crew from leaving the country.
The device, which was found in Paraguay in May, is owned by Venezuelan company Emtrasur, a subsidiary of Conviasa under US Treasury sanctions. It was purchased a year ago from Iranian airline Mahan Air.
“The warning was about the aircraft and the crew. The proof that the alarm was raised is that there was an intervention. A good alarm was issued at a good time,” Aquino reiterated, “acknowledging the Uruguayan response from the Argentine government.” “.
The plane arrived in Argentina on June 6 with a shipment of car parts from Mexico. Unable to refuel in Buenos Aires, he tried to go to Uruguay on June 8, but Uruguayan authorities refused to allow him to enter.
Uruguayan Interior Minister Luis Alberto Heber announced on Thursday that his country had received “an official notification from Paraguayan intelligence”.
“We acted quickly with the defense minister and were able to prevent the plane from entering Uruguay’s airspace,” Heber said.
source: Noticias
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