Argentina Asks Qatar to Arrest Iranian Official Over 1994 Jewish Center Attack

Argentina called on Qatar to arrest a visiting Iranian vice president over his alleged responsibility for the deadly 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center, in which 85 people were killed and 300 were wounded.

Iran’s vice president for economic affairs, Mohsen Rezai, is wanted by Argentinian special prosecutors for alleged participation in the planning of the July 18, 1994 bomb attack against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association, or AMIA.

Special prosecutors submitted a petition to Argentina’s foreign ministry calling for all appropriate diplomatic levers to be pulled, noting an outstanding Interpol red alert against Rezai as well as newspaper clippings mentioning his visit to Qatar, according to the official Telam news agency.

A diplomatic source told AFP that the foreign ministry had granted the special prosecutor’s request after confirming Rezai’s presence in the Gulf country.

The ministry “requested the collaboration of Interpol for the arrest,” while Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero “instructed the Argentine ambassador in Doha… to communicate urgently with the Qatari Foreign Ministry and report on the situation,” the diplomatic source told AFP.

Last January, the Argentine government voiced its anger at Rezai’s presence during the inauguration of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, and had also condemned the Iranian’s appointment as vice president in August 2021.

A former leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, Rezai is believed to be a top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Ayatollah Khamenei. He has previously threatened to “raze Israeli cities to the ground” if Yerushalayim or Washington takes any pre-emptive military action against the Islamic Republic.