AP: Iran will appeal Interpol’s requests for the arrest of five prominent Iranians and a Lebanese militant sought in connection with Argentina’s worst terrorist attack, an Iranian official said Thursday. Associated Press
PARIS (AP) – Iran will appeal Interpol’s requests for the arrest of five prominent Iranians and a Lebanese militant sought in connection with Argentina’s worst terrorist attack, an Iranian official said Thursday.
The six are wanted in Argentina in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires.
Interpol said Thursday that it would help Argentina seek their arrests internationally, though it turned down the country’s request for help in the arrests of three other former top Iranians, including former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.
A challenge from Iran would effectively put the process on hold.
Mohsen Baharvand, the top Iranian diplomat in Argentina as its business attache, said Iran would appeal to Interpol, arguing that political pressure had been applied by the United States. He said Argentinian officials had no evidence to back warrants for the Iranians.
“The decision of Interpol is not acceptable for Iran,” he told The Associated Press by telephone in Buenos Aires. “Iran will appeal to the General Assembly of Interpol.”
Interpol said Thursday that it would issue “red notices” for the Iranians on March 31, unless either Iran or Argentina appeals the decision. If Iran goes forward with an appeal, none will be issued and the matter could go before Interpol’s general assembly in November.
A red notice is an Interpol request that a wanted person be arrested with a view to extradition. While the measure cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, people with red-notice status appear on Interpol’s equivalent of a most-wanted list.
The six people that Interpol said it planned to issue red notices for include former Iranian intelligence chief Ali Fallahian and a Lebanese militant, Imad Moughnieh.
Eighty-five people were killed and 200 wounded when a van packed with explosives blew up outside the seven-story Jewish community center in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994.
