Iran has backed away from an effort to stop an Interpol vote on putting five Iranians and a Lebanese man on the international police agency's most wanted list for a 1994 bombing in Argentina that killed 85 people, an Interpol official said Monday.Iran's decision clears the way for a vote on the issue at the three-day Interpol general assembly that began Monday in Marrakech, Morocco. Delegates will be asked to adjudicate in a dispute between Interpol members Iran and Argentina over the July 18, 1994, bombing when an explosives-laden van leveled the seven-story Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.
Argentine prosecutors allege Iranian officials orchestrated the bombing and entrusted the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah to carry it out. Prosecutors in Argentina say they have enough evidence for Interpol's 186-member general assembly to approve "red" notices for the six suspects which means they are wanted for possible extradition. While the red notice does not force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, people with red-notice status appear on Interpol's equivalent of a most-wanted list.
Many frustrated relatives of the victims are looking for support from Interpol because there have been no convictions 13 years after the attack. "I believe that insofar as any of them can be brought to Argentina to testify, that would be helpful," Diana Malamud, who lost her husband in the bombing, said of the progress toward an Interpol vote. "But I see it would be very difficult."
In the run-up to the gathering, Iran had sought to delay the issue until next year, said an Interpol official on condition of anonymity because of agency policy. But the government did not formalize such a request as the meeting opened. The vote on whether to issue wanted notices is expected Wednesday. A simple majority from delegates is needed for approval.