LONDON -- A mystery Argentine plane that crashed in the Soviet Union ferried U.S.-made weapons to Tehran as part of a $27.9 million super-secret arms deal between Iran and Israel, the Sunday Times reported.
Iran called the report a 'fairy tale' but the Times said the flight to help was the third in a series that defied the embargo on U.S. arms to Iran and was meant to help Iran in its 10-month war against Iraq. Israel denied any involvement in a deal.
Israel was to supply Iran with 360 tons of tank parts and ammunition it desperately needs, the paper said, quoting a Swiss business associate of the pilot killed in the crash of the plane.
Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed a 'fairy tale that the crashed plane has been carrying arms from Israel to Iran. It also denied the Soviet claim that 'no trace is left of the crashed Argentine plane.' The plane was carrying food and relief supplies to Tehran, Iran said.
Explaining the strange arms deal that could lead Israel to help Iran, the Sunday Times said that although Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini has declared that Iran is Israel's enemy, Iraq also is a foe of the Jewish state.
The newspaper said Stuart Allan McCafferty, 38, a Scotsman, was hired to deliver the U.S.-made military supplies from Tel Aviv to Tehran and he apparently was the Briton reportedly killed in the crash of the plane.
Three Argentines also were reportedly killed and the Argentine Embassy in Moscow has asked the Soviet Foreign Ministry to permit it to examine the wreckage of a plane that crashed July 18 in Soviet Armenia. The Soviets have not confirmed the origin of the plane.
The newspaper said McCafferty's Swiss partner, Andreas Jenni, told its reporters the details of the deal.
The reported deal involved ferrying military supplies worth $27.9 million from Tel Aviv to Tehran via Larnaca in Cyprus, and was negotiated by British middlemen in London representing both a Tel Aviv 'cover' firm and Iran.
Three loads, openly documented as tank spares were delivered on July 12, 14 and 17, the Sunday Times said.
Speaking to newsmen in Zurich today, Jenni said the plane was returning from its third run when it was intercepted in Turkish air space by Soviet jet fighters.
'Contrary to reports that the plane strayed into Soviet air space and crashed, it was intercepted by Soviet jet fighters 125 miles inside Turkish territory,' Jenni said.
'The fighters forced the plane to fly into Soviet air space where it was either shot down or crashed,' he said. 'The flights were legally declared and governments knew about the cargo, including the government of Cyprus where the plane landed on the way to Tehran.'
The newspaper said McCafferty moved to Miami two years ago with his Dutch-born girl friend Marian Bruyn to live in a $400-a-month apartment.
McCafferty was said to have approached several U.S. charter companies offering $175,000 for 15 flights carrying 'pharmaceuticals' from Tel Aviv to Tehran, but none of them would touch it.
In late June, the Sunday Times said, McCafferty went to Buenos Aires where he persuaded Aero Rioplatense, a small Argentine air charter firm, to rent him its CL-44 cargo plane.
On board with McCafferty when the plane left Tehran for Tel Aviv were a crew of three Argentines, including Hector Cordero, the newspaper said.
The Swiss businessman told newsmen he received an advance payment of $600,000 for helping to arrange the movement of the supplies and intends to complete the full delivery. 'We will change the route, however,' he said.
The Sunday Times story was the latest in a number of reports about an Israel-Iran arms deal and the missing Argentine cargo plane's involvement in it.
