The U.S. government has recently seized a Boeing 747 cargo plane that had been sold by a sanctioned Iranian airline to a Venezuelan firm in violation of American export control laws. According to the Justice Department, the aircraft, which arrived in Florida, will now be disposed of.
The plane in question had been transferred from Mahan Air, an Iranian airline that officials have accused of providing support for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force. It was then sold to Emtrasur, a Venezuelan cargo airline and subsidiary of a state-owned firm that had previously faced sanctions by the United States. The sale of the aircraft without proper U.S. government authorization is considered a violation of export control laws. Moreover, it is believed to have improperly benefited Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
