Argentina enlists Interpol to issue 'red notice' for arrest of Iranian minister implicated in Jewish center bombing

After decades long questions and a recent investigation, Argentina is calling upon Interpol to issue a “red alert” notice for Iranian interior minister Ahmad Vahidi.

The South American country is requesting Vahidi’s arrest on the 30-year anniversary of the 1994 attack on a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, in which 85 people were murdered. Argentina’s highest criminal court has called the attack “crime against humanity.”

The request to Interpol also follows a recent finding by an Argentinian court that held the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Hezbollah proxies were responsible for the catastrophic explosion that killed dozens.

A Wednesday morning report published by the BBC pinned Vahidi in Pakistan earlier this week where he was participating in an Iranian delegation that has since mobilized to Sri Lanka.

That did not deter Argentina however, whose law enforcement apparatus asked Interpol and international partners in both countries to arrest Vahidi.

In a statement released by the Argentine Foreign Ministry, the South American agency said that Interpol had honored its request and issued a “red notice” for Vahidi’s capture.

Red notices alert local police in Interpol participant nation states about fugitives who are located in foreign countries, but it does not constitute an actual arrest warrant forcing the country to effectuate an arrest.

The international law enforcement agency cannot force police to arrest a purported fugitive for whom a red notice has been issued.

It is at the discretion of the Interpol member state to determine if an arrest is appropriate and warranted.

Vahidi’s presence in Sri Lanka is part of a delegation that involves Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. The group landed in Sri Lanka on Wednesday after it left the Middle East.

So far, it is unknown whether or not Vahidi actually left with the Iranian president to Sri Lanka since he has not been one of the Iranian officials spotted by international media.

State media in the Islamic Republic has reported that Vahidi was back in Iran on Tuesday and neglected to report Interpol’s issuance of the red notice. 

It is unknown if Vahidi actually returned to Iran or if the state press report is a diversion attack to quell any attempts of Sri Lankan law enforcement officials to effectuate an arrest.

The Argentine Foreign Ministry said it was pursuing Vahidi’s arrest because he was “one of those responsible for the attack on [the Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association cultural center] Amia.”

Past Argentinian investigations have probed Vahidi, who was widely recognized as an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (ICRGC) lead in the 1990s when the Buenos Aires attack occurred.

The government has long considered him to be one of the key orchestrators involved in the terrorist attack, considered the deadliest in Argentina's history.

Eighty-five people were killed in the explosion, which injured 300.

Tehran has continuously denied its participation, but April 11 Argentina’s highest criminal court, the Court of Cassation, issued a finding that the Islamic Republic orchestrated and carried out the attack and through Hezbollah.

Tehran’s foreign ministry has criticized the ruling, saying Argentina is making “baseless and unsubstantiated claims" to further its “political goals and objectives.”

Argentina has a Jewish population of nearly a quarter million and is Latin America's largest Jewish community. Chile is known as the largest Palestinian community in South America.