Argentina: Top Iranian involved in 1994 bombing

The Argentinian Foreign Affairs Ministry made an official request to arrest Iranian Interior Minister and former Quds Force commander Ahmad Vahidi for his role in the 1994 AMIA bombing, the ministry announced Wednesday morning.

The AMIA suicide bombing occurred on 18 July 1994 in Buenos Aires, and targeted the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, a Jewish Community Center.

“Argentina demands the international arrest of those responsible for the 1994 AMIA attack, which caused the deaths of 85 people, and [the arrest of] those who continue in their positions of power with total impunity. One of them is Ahmad Vahidi, who was one of those responsible for the attack,” the country’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement posted on its social media.

The statement continued, “This individual is currently joining a governmental coalition that is traveling to Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Upon request of the Argentinian authorities, the Central Office of Interpol has issued a red notice for his arrest.”

Also, in the statement, Argentina has requested that the Pakistani and Sri Lankan governments permit Vahidi’s arrest, according to the mechanisms provided by Interpol.

Argentina is utilizing its foreign and security ministries, as well as its embassies in Pakistan and India, to assist in Vahidi’s arrest. Additionally, Interpol’s National Central Bureaus in Buenos Aires has asked its counterpart in Islamabad to detain Vahidi in order to extradite him to Argentina, according to the statement.