INTERPOL ISSUES WARRANT AGAINST IRANIAN MINISTER FOR INVOLVEMENT IN ARGENTINA ATTACK

Interpol Issues Warrant Against Iranian Minister for Involvement in Argentina Attack

The arrest warrant was issued against Iran's Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, due to his involvement in the 1994 truck bomb attack on a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people

April 25th, 17PM April 25th, 17PM

An Interpol arrest warrant has been issued against Ahmad Vahidi, the current interior minister of Iran who previously served in the Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, due to his involvement in the 1994 truck bomb attack on a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

Interpol approved the Argentine foreign ministry's request for a red notice, given in order to seek the location and arrest a wanted person, according to the international policing organization. The red notice states that Vahidi is wanted for aggravated murder and damages.

Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the move, calling it "an illegal demand by some Argentine judges." Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani further stated that "this demand is based on lies and fabrications." However, the Foreign Ministry's statement didn't include specific mentions of Vahidi.

The deadly incident, commonly known as the AMIA bombing, took place in July 1994. Earlier this month, an Argentinian court concluded that Iran had planned the attack and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, had executed the plans.

In a ruling obtained by The Associated Press, Argentina's Court of Cassation deemed Iran and Hezbollah responsible for the bombing in Buenos Aires that leveled the community center, killing 85 people, wounding 300 and devastating Latin America's biggest Jewish community. The court said the attack came in retaliation for Argentina reneging on a nuclear cooperation deal with Tehran.

Alleging Iran's "political and strategic" role in the bombing, the Argentine court paved the way for victims' families to bring lawsuits against the Islamic Republic. In the past three decades, Iran has not turned over citizens convicted in Argentina. Interpol arrest warrants have led nowhere.

The court singled out top Iranian officials and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard commanders in its determination that Iran carried out the bombings in response to Argentina scrapping three contracts that would have provided Tehran with nuclear technology in the mid-1980s. Its conclusions were based on confidential intelligence reports.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

2024-04-25T14:56:57Z dg43tfdfdgfd