WASHINGTON (TND) — A U.S.-manufactured cargo plane is back on American soil following a forfeiture order completed by the Department of Justice.

The DOJ announced Tuesday new information on a Boeing 747 cargo plane that was previously owned by Mahan Air, a sanctioned Iranian airline with affiliations to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).

On Sunday, Argentina's government transferred physical custody of the plane to the U.S., with the aircraft now being prepared for disposition in Florida.

The seized American-built aircraft was transferred by a sanctioned Iranian airline in a transaction that violated U.S. export control laws and directly benefited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is a designated terrorist organization,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Justice Department is committed to ensuring that the full force of U.S. laws deny hostile state actors the means to engage in malign activities that threaten our national security.

In July 2022, the United States issued a seizure warrant for the cargo plane, which Argentine authorities enforced, detaining the aircraft. In Oct. 2022, the U.S. filed a civil forfeiture complaint alleging that the plane's transfer from Mahan Air violated U.S. export control laws.

The plane was transferred from Mahan Air to Empresa de Transporte Aéreocargo del Sur, S.A. (EMTRASUR), a Venezuelan cargo airline and subsidiary of Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronáuticas y Servicios Aéreos, S.A (CONVIASA), a Venezuelan state-owned company.

Mahan Air – known to ferry weapons and fighters for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hizballah – violated our export restrictions by selling this airplane to a Venezuelan cargo airline. Now, it’s property of the United States government,” said Assistant Secretary of Export Enforcement’s Matthew S. Axelrod. “This seized airplane’s arrival in the United States is a powerful example of our unceasing efforts to prevent Iran and its proxies from leveraging and profiting from U.S. technology.

Mahan Air was then subjected to a Department of Commerce Temporary Denial Order, which prohibited the company from "engaging in any transactions involving any commodity exported from the United States that is subject to Export Administration Regulations."

The U.S. complaint also alleged the "unauthorized" transfer of the plane directly benefitted the foreign terrorist organization (IRGC-QF).

The DOJ says court documents show the registered captain of the plane was an ex-commander for the IRGC, as well as a shareholder and board member of another sanctioned Iranian Airline, Qeshm Fars Air, also affiliated with the IRGC-QF.

Upon seizure of the plane, Argentine authorities recovered a flight log that documented the plane's flights after the transfer to EMTRASUR, confirming additional violations of export control laws between Feb. and May 2022.

According to the DOJ, the flight logs show EMTRASUR reexported the plane between Caracas, Venezuela; Tehran, Iran; and Moscow, Russia, without U.S. Government authorization.

The United States’ forfeiture of the Boeing 747 cargo plane culminates over 18 months of planning, coordination, and execution by the United States government and our Argentine counterparts,” said U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida. “Bad actors – both near and far – are on alert that the United States will use all its tools to hold those who violate our laws to account. The successful seizure of the Boeing 747 underscores our commitment to prevent the illegal exportation of U.S. technologies and enforce U.S. export control laws.