MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Iran's pick for Interior Minister job prompts condemnation from Argentina and Israel

Vahidi is believed to have played a key role in the July 18, 1994 attack which killed 85 people

Argentina and Israel have expressed their condemnation of Iran's decision Wednesday to appoint Ahmad Vahidi as the country's new Interior Minister.

 Vahidi is said to have played a key role in the decision-making and planning of the 1994 bombing against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) headquarters in Buenos Aires and is wanted by Argentine courts to stand trial.

Argentina's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that an international arrest warrant against Vahidi has been out within Interpol for some time now.

Wednesday's appointment ”constitutes an affront to Argentine justice and to the victims of the brutal terrorist attack against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA),“ the Foreign Ministry statement went on.

“As stated in August 2009, when Vahidi was nominated for the post of Defense Minister, his nomination to occupy a ministerial post in Iran has been received with grave concern and deserves the strongest condemnation of the Government of our country,” the document added.

“The Argentine Government demands once again the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to cooperate fully with the Argentine Judiciary, allowing the people who have been accused of participating in the attack against the AMIA to be judged by the competent courts.”

Israel too produced a document along the same lines. ”He is a criminal wanted by Interpol,“ the Government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated.

Tel Aviv also warned that the new minsiter is ”a criminal wanted by Interpol for the murder of 85 people in the shocking 1994 attack on the Jewish community AMIA center in Buenos Aires“ and asked ”the international community must condemn this shameful appointment“, since it is ”the face of the new terrorist government of Iran.“

Israel's Ambassador to Argentina Galit Ronen pointed out that ”Iran does not even try to hide its criminal and terrorist policy” and insisted Vahidi was “someone who is on the Argentine RePET (Public Registry of Persons and Entities linked to acts of Terrorism and their Financing) and is linked to the attack against the AMIA.”