Argentina is asking Azerbaijan to arrest an Iranian official visiting Baku in connection with the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires.
Alí Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is scheduled to attend a summit of religious leaders beginning Nov. 14 in the Azerbaijani capital, was Iran’s foreign minister at the time of the terrorist attack and has been accused of ordering the bombing that killed 85 people.
The Argentine foreign minister summoned the Azerbaijani ambassador on Friday and asked for Azerbaijan’s cooperation “in order to carry out the detention for extradition purposes.”
This isn’t the first time Argentina has asked for help in arresting Velayati.
In 2016, Argentina unsuccessfully made requests for Velayati’s arrest ahead of trips he took to Singapore and Malaysia. That same year Argentina also asked Iraq to extradite Velayati during his visit to Baghdad and two years later, another ignored request was made to Russia.
Iran denies involvement in the attack and has repeatedly rejected demands by Argentina for those accused to testify. Several Iranians continue to be on Interpol’s most wanted list since 2007 in connection to the bombing.
