A US-sanctioned Iranian plane entered Venezuela

Reuters reported that the Fars Air Qeshm plane, owned by Iran's Mahan, landed in Venezuela. The plane had been operating to transport cargo and personnel on orders from the Revolutionary Guard Corps. The United States and Iran have not commented on the matter.

Reuters reported on Wednesday, October 28, citing a Venezuelan opposition representative, that an Iranian Fars Air Qeshm plane had landed in Venezuela. The United States had previously sanctioned Fars Air Qeshm on charges of transporting weapons and IRGC personnel to Syria.

The US Treasury Department sanctioned Fars Air Qeshm, an airline controlled by Mahan Air, in January 2019. Mahan Air has previously been sanctioned by the US. At the time, the US Treasury Department also sanctioned Flight Travel LLC, an Armenia-based company that did marketing for Mahan Air.

Fars Air Qeshm's activities were stagnant until 2017, when, on the orders of the Revolutionary Guard, it resumed carrying passengers and cargo to Damascus using two B747 aircraft.

The Reuters report said that the EP-FAB 747 aircraft belonging to Fars Qeshm Air landed in Venezuela at a time when trade relations between Iran and Venezuela, two OPEC members whose oil industries are under increasing sanctions from the United States, are expanding.

The Reuters report, however, did not mention the cargo of the Fars Air Qeshm plane.

Jose Manuel Olivares, a congressman for the coastal state of Vargas, tweeted that the plane had landed at Maicotia Airport.

Data from flight tracking website Flightradar24 shows the Iranian plane slowed down towards the Venezuelan capital Caracas at around 4pm local time. The plane is said to have made stops in Tunis and Cape Verde before flying to Venezuela.

Venezuela's intelligence ministry did not respond to Reuters' questions about the plane's landing in the country, but this is not the first time Iranian planes have flown to Venezuela.

In early 2020, Mahan Air made more than a dozen flights to help repair Venezuelan refineries and transported materials needed by Venezuelan refineries.

Iran has also sent three fuel tankers to Venezuela to alleviate the severe fuel shortage in the South American country.

The expansion of relations between Iran and Venezuela has drawn criticism from American officials.

Mahan Air flights to Venezuela

The United States warned on Sunday, October 25, that it would destroy a possible shipment of Iranian long-range missiles for the Maduro regime.

Elliott Abrams, the US special representative for Iran and Venezuela, told Fox News that the US will prevent Iran from sending missiles to Venezuela and will destroy possible Iranian missile shipments to the Maduro regime.

Abrams stated that the transfer of long-range missiles from Iran to Venezuela is unacceptable to the United States. He emphasized that the United States will work to stop the transfer of long-range missiles to Venezuela and that if these missiles reach Venezuela, they will be destroyed there.