Ahmad Vahidi: Why does Argentina request the international capture of Iran’s Interior Minister?

This week the Argentine government reiterated its request for the arrest of the current Minister of the Interior of WillAhmad Vahidi, whom he accuses of being linked to the terrorist attack carried out against the premises of the Argentine Mutual Israel Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires in 1994.

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In response to the request, the Interpol Central Office, based in the French city of Lyon, issued a red notice for Vahidi’s arrest. However, requests of this type have been weighing on the minister for 17 years, which have not been executed despite having been requested at numerous public events in several countries.

According to Argentine justice, Vahidi was one of those responsible who planned the attack against the Israeli organization during a meeting held half a year before the brutal terrorist act.

The request for arrest resurfaces after a decision by the Argentine justice that on April 11 declared “crime against humanity”The 1994 attack in which 85 people died and another 300 were injured. Furthermore, Chamber II of the Federal Court of Cassation declared that the attack was ordered by Iran.

Firefighters and police search for injured people after a bomb explosion at the Associação Mútua Israelita Argentina (AMIA), in Buenos Aires, on July 18, 1994. (Photo by Ali BURAFI / AFP) (ALI BURAFI/)

Born 65 years ago in the city of Shiraz, Vahidi studied Electronics and received a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, in addition to obtaining a doctorate in strategic studies from Imam Sadegh University.

In 1979 he joined the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (GR) and within a few years managed to become deputy to then commander Mohsen Rezai. In 1983 he joined the Quds Force, the GR’s elite unit designed to carry out work in the shadows of the Iranian regime.

In November 1993, when Vahidi was already head of the Quds Force, a meeting was held in the city of Mahshad. According to Argentine justice, the operation against AMIA was planned at this meeting, which is why the eight Iranian officials who participated in the meeting were accused of being involved in the attack.

From the outset, Iran denied having anything to do with the attack, opposed the interrogation of those responsible and accused the US and Israeli intelligence agencies of manipulating the case against it.

List of eight Iranian officials believed to be involved in the attack against AMIA, presented by missing prosecutor Alberto Nisman in 2006. (Agência AFP/)

Despite the accusations against him, Vahidi had no obstacles in rising within the Iranian political structure. From 2009 to 2013 he was Minister of Defense and in 2021 he was appointed Minister of the Interior by President Ebrahim Raisi.

Although Argentina has requested his capture since 1994 and Interpol has maintained a red alert against him since 2007, Vahidi has visited countries such as Nicaragua, Bolivia, Singapore, Russia and Malaysia without legal consequences.

Since 2021, Ahmad Vahidi has served as Minister of Interior in Iran. (ATTA KENARE/)

Even when this new circular was issued against him, Vahidi was accompanying President Raisi on a state visit to Pakistan and was also expected to be part of the delegation traveling to Sri Lanka. The Argentine government contacted authorities in Pakistan and Sri Lanka to implement the mechanisms provided by Interpol.

However, the Sri Lankan government responded that Vahidi had not reached its territory. According to the Iranian state agency IRNA, the minister returned to the Persian state last Tuesday to participate in the inauguration ceremony of a governor.

Faced with the new circular against its minister, the government of the Islamic Republic “strongly condemned the reiteration of illegal requests based on lies (…) by some Argentine judges regarding Iranian citizens for the AMIA case“, according to a statement from Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani.

Source: Elcomercio