Some information on five Iranians and one Lebanese put on Interpol's most-wanted list in connection with 1994 bombing that killed 85 people at a Jewish center in Argentina:
ALI FALLAHIAN: Former Iranian intelligence minister and midlevel cleric who graduated from seminary in Qom, Iran, widely seen as breeding ground of Islamic militants. Now on Experts Assembly, elected body responsible for appointing Iran's supreme leader. Has been accused of links to other attacks _ slaying of three Iranian Kurd dissidents in Berlin and murders of five Iranian political dissidents; denies involvement.
IMAD MOUGHNIEH: Only non-Iranian sought by Argentina. Served as intelligence officer for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. U.S. has put $25 million bounty on him. Allegedly involved in kidnappings of Westerners in Lebanon in 1980s and suicide attacks on U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine base in Lebanon _ bombings that killed more than 260 Americans. Whereabouts unknown.
AHMAD VAHIDI: General in Iran's Revolutionary Guards regarded as father of country's missile program. Believed to working in Defense Ministry, but little information publicly available.
MOHSEN RABBANI: Mid-ranking Iranian cleric was cultural attache at Iranian Embassy in Argentina in 1994. Also has been implicated in 1992 terror bombing at Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires. No longer in Iranian government.
MOHSEN REZAEI: Commanded Revolutionary Guards during Iran's 1980-88 war with Iraq. Retired from military and entered politics. Now serves on Expediency Council, body that arbitrates between Iran's parliament and Guardians' Council.
AHMAD REZA ASGHARI: Served as third secretary in Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires, but believed to have been linked to Revolutionary Guards. Not known whether he still works for Iranian government.
HOW MUCH WAS PAID TO SPARE THOSE TWO FROM BEING RED LISTED?
An Israeli delegate said Wednesday afternoon that Interpol has voted to issue 'Wanted' notices for five Iranians and a Lebanese terror suspect, despite objections from Iran. The six men are Iranians Ali Fallahian, Ahmad Vahidi, Mohsen Rabbani, Mohsen Rezaei, Ahmad Reza Asghari, and Lebanese Imad Moughnieh. Apart from Fallahian, the Iranian fugitives are all wanted for involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. Moughnieh is a Lebanese Shi'ite considered one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. Fallahian, a middle ranking cleric, served as Iran's Intelligence Minister and has been accused of involvement in two cases of assassination. In 1997, a German court ruled that the killing of three Iranian Kurd dissidents in a Berlin restaurant had been ordered by Fallahian. Prosecutors had indicted him for the assassination, but he evaded justice by staying in Iran. The Iranian investigative journalist Akbar Ganji accused Fallahian of involvement in the 1998 murders of five political dissidents. Fallahian denied involvement. The Intelligence Ministry blamed the murders on "rogue agents" and a court convicted little-known officials of some of the killings. Fallahian graduated from a seminary in Qom that is widely seen as a breeding ground of Islamic militants. He now serves on the Experts Assembly, an elected body that is charged with appointing Iran's supreme leader. Vahidi is regarded as the father of Iran's missile program. A general in the Revolutionary Guards, he is believed to be working in the Defense Ministry apparatus, but little information is publicly available about him. Rabbani is a middle ranking cleric and served as the cultural attaché at the Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1994. Argentina accused him of involvement in the bombing and issued an international warrant for his arrest in 2003. Rabbani was also implicated in a terrorist attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992. He is no longer in government. Rezaei led the elite Revolutionary Guards during the 1980-88 war with Iraq, later retiring from the military to enter politics. He now serves on the Expediency Council, a body that arbitrates between Iran's parliament and Guardians' Council. Asghari served as a third secretary in the Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires, but he is believed to have been linked to the Revolutionary Guards. It is not known whether he still works for the government. The only non-Iranian on the Argentine list, Moughnieh is one of the most sought-after terrorist suspects in the world. The United States has put him on its list of Most Wanted terrorists with a bounty of US$25 million. He is a Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim who worked in intelligence for Hizbullah. He is wanted for his alleged role in the kidnapping of Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s and suicide attacks on the US Embassy and a US Marine base in Lebanon - bombings that killed more than 260 Americans. His whereabouts are not known but US officials suspect he moves between Lebanon, Iran and Syria. Hizbullah officials refuse to discuss Moughnieh.
Iranians named over Buenos Aires bombing : By Philip Sherwell in New York: Last Updated: 2:19am GMT 12/11/2007
Iran's deputy defence minister is one of five top Teheran officials placed on Interpol's most wanted list for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Argentina that killed 85 people, The Telegraph can reveal. Ahmad Vahidi, a brigadier-general in the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards, is in charge of the regime's defence procurement and rocket and missile programme.
A man walks over the rubble left after the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Argentina that killed 85 people
The role would put him at the heart of the secret nuclear bomb project that Western intelligence claims Iran is pursuing. Gen Vahidi was the commander of the Quds (Jerusalem) Force, the Guards' international operations wing accused by the West of organising foreign terrorist activities, at the time of the deadliest attack on a Jewish target since the Second World War. Ali Fallahian, the former intelligence minister who is now a senior security advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Mohsen Rezai, then commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, were also added to the Interpol so-called "red notices" list last week in the face of furious objections by Iran. Their high-ranking careers have been tracked by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a cultish exiled umbrella group, through its contacts within the regime.The international police co-ordinating agency named two other senior Iranian officials and Lebanese operative Imad Moughnieh, one of the world's most notorious terrorists, as wanted for the van bomb attack that levelled the seven-storey community centre in Buenos Aires in July 1994, claiming 85 lives and injuring 200.Argentine prosecutors cite witness testimony, telephone records and travel documents as proof that the plot was put together at a 1993 meeting in the Iranian city of Mashad and then carried out by Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group trained and funded by the Quds Force. Iran has always steadfastedly denied any involvement and the initial Argentine investigation was dogged by allegations of incompetence and corruption, prompting Interpol to reject its findings two years ago. But a new prosecutor took over the case, issuing arrest warrants against the six men and presenting a beefed-up case to Interpol.Teheran's envoys mounted a fierce defence ahead of the agency's general assembly in Morocco last week, accusing Israel and the US of trying to hijack its operations to harm Iran's image. International delegates rejected their arguments, voting by 76 to 14 to issue the "red notices" after a heated closed-door session. Such notices are circulated by Interpol to member countries naming individuals wanted for extradition and seeking the assistance of national police forces. In this case, the decision is partly symbolic as Iran has made clear that it will not hand the men over, although it does mean they cannot travel abroad without risking arrest. Interpol's decision to add the men to its most wanted list is particularly embarrassing for Iran as it comes as the regime denies it is conducting a covert atomic bomb programme or supplying weapons and improvised explosive devices to insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Several of the men have been at the heart of the regime's security and intelligence operations for more than two decades. Most notably, Gen Vahidi ran the Revolutionary Guards Lebanon Corps before he appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei to lead the newly-created Quds Force's mission to export Iran's Islamic revolution. His units have been linked to a series of international terror attacks, including the 1983 attack on the US marine base in Beirut that killed 241 servicemen and the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996 that killed claimed the lives of 19 American military personnel. In his current status as deputy defence minister, he maintains a low profile but he reportedly heads the country's missile programme that would provide a delivery system for the nuclear devices that the West claim Iran is developing. Teheran denies it is seeking a bomb and say its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes. Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI's cult leader, said: "These arrest warrants demonstrate the extent to which officials of the Iranian regime, many of whom are Islamic Revolutionary Guards commanders, are involved in the export of terrorism and fundamentalism. "The Guards Corps is the pillar of the mullahs' survival. In addition to the torture and execution of tens of thousands of political prisoners at home, it is directly involved in the production of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons, and is the mullahs' most important organ for terrorism abroad."
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