Iran drops bid to stall arrest warrants for 1994 Argentina bombing suspects: Interpol News
Iran drops bid to stall arrest warrants for 1994 Argentina bombing suspects: Interpol

[JURIST] Iranian officials have halted formal attempts to stop an expected Interpol [official website] vote Wednesday to issue arrest notices [JURIST report] for six men thought to be connected with the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish Community Center [Wikipedia backgrounder], Interpol officials said Monday. Argentinean officials investigating the bombing, which killed 85 and wounded hundreds more, allege that Iran arranged the attack and used the Lebanese Hezbollah [party website, in Arabic; CFR backgrounder] to implement it. The Wednesday vote, which will take place during Interpol's general assembly, could place the five Iranian and one Lebanese suspects on the international police agency's "Red Notice," which would circulate the warrant worldwide and pave the way for extradition of the suspects. Iran had hinted it might seek to delay the vote until next year's assembly, but Interpol officials said Monday that the country had yet to submit a formal request. AP has more.

In March, Interpol agreed to issue arrest notices for the six men. Argentina had initially sought to have a number of high ranking Iranian officials arrested, including former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani [official website, in Farsi; JURIST report], but Interpol's Executive Committee [official website] approved notices for only five Iranians, including one for former Intelligence Chief Ali Fallahian, and an additional notice for a Lebanese militant. In August, an Iranian court issued a summons [JURIST report] for five Argentinean officials, accusing them of fabricating the case against Iran in connection with the bombing. Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in the attack.