Two suspects of the 1994 bombing at the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires were confirmed by Iran’s parliament to take on new positions in the cabinet, Reuters reported.
Ahmad Vahidi and Mohsen Rezai, both selected by recently elected President Ebrahim Raisi, received confirmation on Wednesday to serve as Iran’s new interior minister and Iran’s vice president of economic affairs, respectively.
In 2007, Interpol issued Red Alert notices for Vahidi, Rezai and four other men suspected of involvement in the AMIA bombing, meaning they are wanted for arrest internationally. The attack killed 85 people and wounded hundreds.
Vahidi, a former defense minister under Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad between 2009 and 2013, was blacklisted by the U.S. in 2010. He headed the Quds Force, the paramilitary arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, at the time of the 1994 AMIA attack. Rezai is a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.
Argentina’s Foreign Ministry condemned Vahidi’s nomination when it was first announced, calling the move an “affront” to the country’s justice system and to the victims of the terrorist attack. They demanded that the Iranian government “cooperate fully” with Argentina to allow “the people who have been accused of participating in the attack against the AMIA to be tried by the competent courts.”
DAIA, the Argentine Jewish umbrella group, said when Vahidi was nominated for the Cabinet position, “This decision once again exposes the Iranian government’s contempt for Argentine justice and the victims of terrorism.”
