Argentina Requests Arrest of Senior Iranian Official over Attack on Jewish Center

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
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Argentina Requests Arrest of Senior Iranian Official over Attack on Jewish Center

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)

Argentina's justice department has asked Qatar to arrest a top Iranian official for his alleged participation in a 1994 attack on a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

Federal judge Daniel Rafecas late on Monday requested the detention of Iran Vice President for Economic Affairs Dr. Mohsen Rezaei Mirghaed, who is currently in Qatar, so he can be tried in Argentina.

Argentina does not currently have an extradition treaty with Qatar.

Investigations into the 1994 attack, in which an explosives-laden truck blew up outside the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) building, have made little progress.

Argentine courts have blamed the attack on Iran. But no one has been brought to trial in either that case or a deadly 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. Iran denies playing a role in either attack.



Italy Says No US Extradition Request for Detained Iranian Businessman So Far

A seagull stands in front of an Italian flag flying at half-mast on the Altare della Patri-Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. (AFP Photo)
A seagull stands in front of an Italian flag flying at half-mast on the Altare della Patri-Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. (AFP Photo)
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Italy Says No US Extradition Request for Detained Iranian Businessman So Far

A seagull stands in front of an Italian flag flying at half-mast on the Altare della Patri-Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. (AFP Photo)
A seagull stands in front of an Italian flag flying at half-mast on the Altare della Patri-Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. (AFP Photo)

The United States has not submitted any formal request of extradition for an Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini detained in Milan, Italy's justice minister said in an interview published on Thursday.
"The matter of Abedini is purely legal ... regardless of the (freeing of Italian journalist) Cecilia Sala. It is premature to talk of extradition, also because no formal request has been sent to our ministry so far," Justice Minister Carlo Nordio told daily La Stampa.
Abedini is wanted by the United States on suspicion of involvement in a drone strike against US forces in Jordan. Iran has denied involvement and said last week the detention of the Iranian national amounted to hostage-taking.
His arrest has been linked to the detention three days later of Italian reporter Cecilia Sala, who was seized in Tehran on Dec. 19 while working under a regular journalistic visa and freed on Jan. 8.