Interpol, Iran And Terrorism
At the request of Argentina, Interpol has served 5 Iranians and a Lebanese national with so-called “Red Notices”, putting them on the e
This month, at the request of the government of Argentina, the international police agency Interpol served five Iranians and a Lebanese national with so-called “Red Notices.” The Red Notices put the six men on the equivalent of an international most-wanted list. The five Iranians include a former Iranian intelligence minister, a former head of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, and a Revolutionary Guard Corps general. The Lebanese national, Imad Moughnieh, is a senior Hezbollah operative. Argentina is seeking the men in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed eighty-five people and wounded more than one hundred. It was the worst terrorist attack in Argentine history. Argentine prosecutors say the bombing was masterminded by Iran and carried out by the Iranian-supported terrorist group Hezbollah. The attack, they say, was in retaliation for Argentina’s decision not to supply Iran with nuclear technology. U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Earl Wayne called Interpol’s decision to issue the Red Notices a "critical step in international efforts in the fight against terrorism." The U.S. State Department has identified Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the Iranian government “increasingly. . . .is putting itself at the head of violent extremism,” which does not reflect the desires of the Iranian people: “It is a tragedy that the Iranian government spends millions and millions of dollars to train and arm terrorists and to pursue nuclear capabilities while many Iranians, especially young Iranians, are struggling to find jobs, to buy homes, to put gas in their cars and to afford medical care.” Secretary of State Rice says, “The United States will continue to rally responsible nations everywhere to confront the dangerous policies of the dangerous Iranian government.”