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No Quds Force member on grounded plane, Argentina says

AFP

No member of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was among the 19 crew of a Venezuelan plane grounded outside Buenos Aires, Argentina said Wednesday.

As the crew remained barred from exiting Argentina pending investigations into the flight’s purpose and origins, Security Minister Anibal Fernandez said one of the men shared a name with a Quds Force member, nothing more.

The man, Gholamreza Ghasemi, is one of five Iranian crew members who had their passports seized after the Venezuelan Boeing 747 cargo plane was grounded in Argentina a week ago. 

On Tuesday, a judge ruled the 14 Venezuelan crew may also not leave, after police searched the crew members’s hotel rooms and seized cell phones and documents.

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On Monday, Argentina officials raised suspicions of a link between the flight and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, listed as a foreign “terrorist organization” by the United States.

The plane, reportedly carrying car parts, came in from Mexico to land in Cordoba, Argentina on Monday last week.

It then tried to travel to neighboring Uruguay, but was denied entry and returned to Ezeiza outside Buenos Aires two days later.

The plane belongs to Emtrasur, a subsidiary of Venezuela’s Conviasa, which is under US sanctions.

A judge grounded the plane based on a “reasonable suspicion that the reason given for entering (Argentina) might not be true.”

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On Tuesday, Paraguay said two officials who had authorized the landing of the plane there in May had been dismissed and two anti-drug agents were under investigation.

Interior Minister Federico Gonzalez said only after it had left did Paraguay receive information that “the aircraft is sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department and that seven of the crew members are members of the Al Quds forces (of the Guards) and that the United States has them on a list of terrorists.”

Fernandez said on Wednesday none of the crew members were on an Interpol red list, and there had been no reason to prevent them from entering Argentina.

Iran has said Argentina’s move was part of a “propaganda” campaign against Tehran amid tensions with Western countries over negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the plane was sold by Iran’s Mahan Air to a Venezuelan company last year.

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Mahan Air is accused by the United States of links with the Revolutionary Guards.

Interpol has arrest warrants out for former Iranian leaders suspected of involvement in an attack on a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994 that killed 85 people and injured hundreds.

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International

Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.

The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.

The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).

“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.

Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”

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International

Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders

President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.

Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.

A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”

According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.

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International

Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.

Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.

“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.

“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.

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