Argentina rejected on Tuesday an Iranian court summons for five Argentines, the latest twist in a dispute between the two countries linked to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires. In the attack, a truck laden with explosives leveled the seven-floor Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) building, a symbol of the country's Jewish community -- Latin America's largest. Late last year, the South American nation ordered an international warrant for the arrest of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and eight other Iranians on charges of masterminding the attack that killed 85 people.Iran, which has repeatedly denied any link to the bombing, challenged the request, and Interpol said in March it would issue wanted notices for six Iranians, leaving out Rafsanjani.
Argentina's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday Iran had sent it a summons last week in which it accused former judge Juan Jose Galeano, ex-Interior Minister Carlos Corach and three civil leaders of "actions against the security of the Islamic Republic."
"Argentina rejects the Iranian appeal on the grounds that it does not meet the necessary requirements," the ministry said in a statement. "It's difficult not to see the request as a political reprisal for the arrest warrant for the Iranian citizens over the (Jewish center bombing) case."
The government in Buenos Aires has repeatedly accused Iran of failing to cooperate in its investigation of the truck bombing of the AMIA center. Iran blames its foes, the United States and Israel, for trying to implicate the Islamic Republic in the AMIA bombing. It had threatened to take retaliatory legal measures against Argentine officials over the arrest orders.