Simultaneous with Raisi's Visit to Pakistan and Sri Lanka; Argentina Calls for Arrest of Iran's Interior Minister

France's news agency reported that Argentina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested Interpol to arrest Iran's Interior Minister due to his involvement in the 1994 bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which resulted in the deaths of 85 people. The ministry stated that Ahmad Vahidi, the Interior Minister, is part of an Iranian delegation currently visiting Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and Interpol has issued a red notice for his arrest at Argentina's request. Argentina has also asked these two governments to detain Vahidi. Although the news from France's agency cites Argentina's Foreign Ministry statement identifying Ahmad Vahidi as 'part of the Iranian delegation' accompanying Raisi, he is not seen in the official images released by Iranian news agencies from Raisi's visit to Pakistan. The only image found related to this trip is one from the 'farewell' of Raisi's delegation at the airport, where some government officials are present, and in one of the images, Vahidi is seen alongside Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Javad Owji, the Minister of Oil. The image published from the 'farewell' of Ibrahim Raisi before his trip to Pakistan and Sri Lanka shows that on April 12, 2023, a court in Argentina attributed the deadly 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish center to the Islamic Republic, accusing the Iranian government of 'crimes against humanity.' According to France's news agency citing Argentine media, this court has announced to the media that existing documents prove that the Islamic Republic, in collaboration with the 'Shia terrorist movement Hezbollah of Lebanon,' committed the deadliest terrorist incident in Argentina's history by bombing the AMIA Jewish center, and for this reason, the Iranian government is considered a 'terrorist state' and a perpetrator of 'crimes against humanity.' The bombing of the AMIA Jewish center occurred in 1994, killing 85 people and injuring over three hundred, damaging 400 shops and homes. Argentina claims that the Islamic Republic planned this bombing and Hezbollah of Lebanon executed it. The U.S. State Department announced on July 19, 2022, on the anniversary of the explosion at the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that 'senior Iranian officials were directly involved in this attack, and Hezbollah of Lebanon carried it out at the behest of the Iranian regime.' Mohsen Rezaei and Ahmad Vahidi, officials of the Islamic Republic who also hold positions in Ibrahim Raisi's government, are being pursued by Interpol and are under prosecution by Argentine justice in connection with the bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish cultural center in 1994. Alberto Nisman, the special prosecutor of the AMIA case, was found dead with a bullet in his head in the bathroom of his apartment after accusing Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the then-President of Argentina, of collusion with the Islamic Republic in 2015. The Iranian government denies any involvement in the AMIA attack and has prevented the interrogation of former government officials. The two countries maintain diplomatic relations at the chargé d'affaires level. A court in Argentina has accused the Islamic Republic of 'crimes against humanity.' Argentina has arrested three citizens from Lebanon and Syria on suspicion of terrorism-related connections. As the 'shadow war' comes to an end, a review of the decades-long hostility between the Islamic Republic and Israel is warranted. A bullet was not fired at Cristina Fernández's face; the former Argentine president was not shot at. The Iranian role in the AMIA bombing case has been controversial; opponents claim that the Argentine president threatened the prosecutor with murder. The United States is committed to countering Hezbollah and Iran's influence on the anniversary of the 'AMIA' and 'Burgas' attacks. Israel states it will not rest until those responsible for the attack on its embassy in Argentina are punished.