March 15, 2007
Iranian Defector May Soon Be Wanted for Mass Murder
Ali Reza Asghari, the former Iranian deputy defense minister and General who is thought to have defected after years of spying on the Iranian government, is one of six Iranians cited in an international arrest warrant that may be issued by Interpol later this month for the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish Center that took 85 lives.
The six concerned are Imad Fayez Mughniyah, Ali Fallahijan, Mohsen Rabbani, Ahmad Reza Asghari, Ahmad Vahidi and Mohsen Rezai.Applications for the arrest of Ali Akbar Velayati and Hadi Soleimanpour, as well as Mr Rafsanjani, were rejected.
No-one has ever been convicted of the 1994 bombing - the worst terror attack in Argentine history - and the government has admitted failures in its initial investigation.
Last year it said it believed Iran ordered the attack, and militant group Hezbollah carried it out.
Asghari is though to have been instrumental in founding Hezbollah in the 1980s, and was a key liasion between Hezbollah and the Iranian government.
The "Mr Rafsanjani" referenced in the article is former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
All the more reason, I would think, that he'd defect and give up lots of goods on the sinking Iranian regime in order to collect a pardon for past crimes. If we see more of this, and if subsequent reports that hint this is the case, it gives me cause to think that doubt is filtering through many echelons of government in Iran.
It almost makes me think the world outside Iran should be compiling lists of Iranian criminals just to push things along. It might even be good to footnote the lists with "Last ones out with duplicate info won't get a 'Get out of Jail Free' card."
Posted by: Dusty at March 15, 2007 05:50 PM
