Iran summons Argentine envoy over arrest requests

Iranian Foreign Ministry condemns Argentine judge arrest requests as an "irresponsible act".

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
buenos aires bombing (photo credit: AP [file])
buenos aires bombing
(photo credit: AP [file])
Iran summoned Buenos Aires' envoy to Teheran in protest over an Argentine judge's request to arrest former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and other officials, state-run radio reported on Sunday. During a meeting with the charge d'affaires, Ali Eslamian, an Iranian Foreign Ministry official, condemned the Argentine judge arrest requests as an "irresponsible act" and "against legal and judicial procedure," the radio reported. "The US and Israel open support to the judge indicates an under the table deal to incriminate Iran," Eslamian said. Earlier this month, an Argentine judge's sought the detention of Rafsanjani, Iranian president between 1989 and 1997, and eight other officials for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires. The blast killed 85 people and wounded more than 200. The attack was the worst ever on Argentine soil, and prosecutors there allege it was orchestrated by leaders of the Iranian government and carried out by Hizbullah. Iran has denied any involvement in the attack.