Israel Matzav

Interpol issues 'red notices' for five Iranians involved in Argentinian bombing

At the request of an Argentine court, Interpol's office of legal affairs has recommended issuing 'red notices' for the capture of five former Iranian officials who have been charged in the 1994 bombing of the Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires in which 86 people were murdered. Red notices are the equivalent of arrest warrants.

According to a copy of the February 28 ruling from Interpol's office of legal affairs, the wanted Iranians include the former minister of Intelligence and Security, Ali Fallahijan; the former commander of Iran's Quds Force, Ahmad Vahidi; the former commander of the revolutionary guard, Mohsen Rezai; Iran's cultural attaché for its embassy in Buenos Aires, Mohsen Rabbani; and that embassy's third secretary, Ahmad Reza Asghari. Also wanted by Interpol is master Hezbollah terrorist, Imadh Mugniyah.

The decision by Interpol is significant because if the body's general assembly endorses the position of its lawyers, it would mark an unusual acknowledgement by an international organization that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. The Argentine court requested that Interpol place a red notice out for the former president of Iran, Ali Hashemi Rafsanjani, though the agency's lawyers recommended against it, saying that the decision to include the warrant for him would be too political.

The decision from Interpol can also be seen as part of the State Department's strategy of squeezing the Iranians through international institutions and through law enforcement and diplomatic pressure.

The red notices requested for the five former Iranian officials would effectively make their travel to Europe impossible, or at least very difficult. This is significant in light of the fact that as recently as 2003, Mr. Rezai met with a former national security council official, Flynt Leverett, and reportedly conveyed the enthusiasm of Iran's supreme leader for negotiations to normalize relations with America.

Of course, none of this will have any effect on Eurabia's business dealings with Iran or on Russia's supplying it with the ingredients necessary to make nuclear weapons....

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:14 PM