Argentina requests arrest of Iranian minister for 1994 AMIA bombing

Argentina has taken a significant step in its pursuit of justice for the victims of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. 

The country has formally requested from Interpol to arrest Iran’s interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, for his alleged role in the attack that claimed 85 lives.

In a statement issued by the foreign ministry, Argentina revealed that Vahidi, currently part of an Iranian delegation visiting Pakistan and Sri Lanka, is subject to a red alert issued by Interpol at their request. Additionally, Argentina has urged both Pakistan and Sri Lanka to apprehend Vahidi while he is in their territories.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted on X in both Hebrew and Spanish, calling Iran's interior minister an "assassin and terrorist," and thanking Argentina's president Javier Milei and the foreign minister for submitting the Interpol request.

The 1994 bombing targeted the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA), a Jewish community center, resulting in the deadliest attack in the country's history, with 85 fatalities and over 300 people injured after the building was targeted by an explosives-laden van. 

Victims have sought justice for decades, and prosecutors have pointed at Iran for ordering its proxy-group Hezbollah to carry out the terrorist act, as well as another deadly attack on the Israeli embassy two years prior. 

The international arrest warrant follows a significant development in an Argentine court earlier this month, which formally blamed Iran and called the attack a "crime against humanity." 

Vahidi was the commander of Iran's IRGC Quds force at the time, and is said to be one of the masterminds of the attack.