The Foreign Minsitry of Argentina has just announced that an arrest warrant, via Interpol, has been issued for Iranian Interior Minister Vahidi for an alleged connection to the 1994 attack on the Argentinian Israelite Association in Buenos Aires. The Argentinian government requested and was granted this warrant.
The announcement reads below:
“Argentina demands the international detention of those responsible for the 1994 AMIA attack, which caused the death of 85 people, and they continue in their positions of power with total impunity. One of them is Ahmad Vahidi, requested by the Argentine Justice as one of those responsible for the attack on the AMIA. This individual is currently Minister of the Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran and is part of a government entourage that is in Pakistan and Sri Lanka these days.
In that context, at the request of the Argentine authorities, the Central Office of Interpol based in Lyon issued a Red Circular for his arrest.“
The Argentinian government is requesting that the Pakistani government comply with the Interpol notice and detain and extradite Vahidi while he is in the country for an official visit between the two governments. This comes only two weeks after Argentine courts blamed Iran publicly for the bombing where a bomb-laden van driven into the AMIA building and subsequently detonated, killing 85 people and injuring over 300. To date, the bombing remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentine history.
Ahmad Vahidi is an Iranian military commander of the Revolutionary Guards and current Minister of Interior since August 25, 2021. In addition, he is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council. He has been active in the Quds Force since 1988.
It is unlikely Pakistan will cooperate while Iranian President Raisi and his entourage are in the country. Both Pakistan and Iran have signed various Memorandums of Understanding and are looking to strengthen cooperation in an anti-Israel axis. Pakistan is interested in gaining a conventional and nuclear upper hand against India via Iranian rocket and drone technology.
