BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - A federal judge on Thursday ordered the detention of former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani and eight others in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center that killed 85 people, a source in his office said.
Iran ‘s leading diplomatic envoy in Buenos Aires, speaking with The Associated Press by telephone, said his government would oppose any efforts to detain Rafsanjani or its nationals. Mohsen Bahvarvand, Iran‘s charge d‘affaires here, called the case politically motivated.
The July 1994 bombing of the Jewish cultural center here claimed 85 lives and injured more than 200 others. It was the worst terrorist attack ever on Argentine soil.
Prosecutors last week urged the judge to seek international and national arrest orders for Rafsanjani, who was Iran‘s president between 1989 and 1997 and is now the head of the Expediency Council, which mediates between Parliament and the clerics who rule the country.
The source in the judge‘s office said his office was seeking the detention of those officials, but said more details would be released later.
# posted by Free_Iran_Now : Friday, November 10, 2006
