US says it’s taken possession of a Boeing 747 that Iran illegally sold to a Venezuelan firm

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government has seized a Boeing 747 cargo plane that officials say was previously sold by a sanctioned Iranian airline to a state-owned Venezuelan firm in violation of American export control laws.

The Justice Department said Monday that the American-built plane had arrived in Florida and would be disposed of.

The plane had earlier been transferred from Iranian airline Mahan Air — which officials have alleged provides support for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force — to Emtrasur, a Venezuelan cargo airline and subsidiary of a state-owned firm that had previously been sanctioned by the United State. Officials said the sale, done without U.S. government authorization, violated export control laws and also improperly benefited Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Mahan Air has for years been subject to U.S. government restrictions on its business.

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“The Justice