Iran Rejects New York Times Report on 1994 Argentina Bombing

Iran has rejected a report by the New York Times accusing the Tehran government of orchestrating the 1994 bombing at a Jewish community center in Argentina. The official Iranian news agency quoted Hamid Reza Asefi, spokesman for the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry, stating that Zionist circles are attempting to mislead the people of Argentina by bringing this issue back to light. Asefi described the report as completely baseless and merely a repetition of unfounded accusations against the Islamic Republic. The New York Times reported yesterday that Iran allegedly deposited ten million dollars into the bank account of former Argentine President Carlos Menem in Switzerland, prompting him to deny Tehran's involvement in the bombing that left 85 dead. The report was based on the confidential statements of Abdolghasem Moshabahi, a high-ranking Iranian intelligence defector. Menem told CNN that these accusations are false and politically motivated, and he plans to sue the author of the report and the New York Times for damages. Menem is running for the presidency of Argentina for a third time in the 2003 elections. He was accused of arms trafficking last year and spent six months under house arrest. During the 1990s, Menem's government faced numerous allegations of corruption and favoritism while privatizing multiple state-owned companies. The Argentine newspaper Clarin described the New York Times report as the most substantiated account published to date regarding Menem's bribery to obstruct investigations related to the 1994 bombing. Menem also admitted in an interview with a Uruguayan radio station that he has a bank account in Switzerland with a balance of about half a million dollars.