Ex-Iranian President Wanted for Argentina Bombing

An Argentinean prosecutor asked a judge yesterday for national and international arrest warrants for a former president of Iran, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and seven other Iranians for their roles in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires.Judge Alberto Nisman said that although the bombing was carried out by the Iranian proxy terrorist group Hezbollah, the decision to bomb the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association “was undertaken in 1993 by the highest authorities of the then-government of Iran.” Hezbollah would only act outside Lebanon “under orders directly emanating from the regime in Tehran,” the prosecution team said.The July 18, 1994, bombing destroyed the seven-story Jewish community building, killing 85 people and injuring 300. It was the worst terrorist attack in Argentina’s history.The cultural center had housed a collection of 80,000 books focusing on Jewish culture and the Holocaust. The center has since been rebuilt and is heavily guarded.The other Iranians wanted for the bombing include two former commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, a former intelligence chief, Ali Fallahijan, and a former foreign minister, Ali Ar Velayati.In November 2005, Judge Nisman announced that the investigation team believed a 21-year-old Hezbollah terrorist was the suicide bomber. The Iranian government has repeatedly denied any involvement in the bombing.Argentina’s Jewish community and the state of Israel, among others, have been critical of Argentinean authorities’ handing of the attack. The investigation into the bombing has been widely faulted for incompetence and alleged corruption. The Argentinean authorities were criticized, for instance, for dumping the bombing debris instead of making it available to forensic experts.In September 2004, after 10 years of investigation and a lengthy trial, the Argentineans accused of being the “local connection” and working with the Islamists thought to be behind the bombing were released because of prosecutorial irregularities and a lack of evidence.After they were released, the judge in the trial, Juan Jose Galeano — who has since been stripped of his judgeship — was removed from the case, and the attorney general’s office set up a special unit of prosecutors to investigate the bombing. Judge Nisman and a prosecutor, Marcelo Martinez Burgo, now head the unit, whose only task is to bring those behind the bombing to justice.Mr. Rafsanjani was president of Iran between 1989 and 1997. He ran against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the last Iranian presidential election. During the election, he was portrayed as the “moderate” candidate.Mr. Rafsanjani has publicly mused about bombing Israel with a nuclear weapon, and his tenure as president was marked by increased oppression at home and terrorist attacks abroad. He remains a powerful force in Iran, with strong support among the country’s ruling theocrats.The 1994 Jewish center attack followed the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, which killed 29 people. No one has been convicted for that attack.Argentina’s 300,000-strong Jewish community is the largest in Latin America.

Ex-Iranian President Wanted for Argentina Bombing

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