An Argentinian prosecutor has requested an international arrest warrant for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged role in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and injured more than 300.
Federal prosecutor Sebastián Basso asked Judge Daniel Rafecas to issue national and international warrants and notified Interpol. He also instructed Argentina’s security forces to detain Khamenei if he enters the country.
According to Clarín, Basso claimed Khamenei “led the decision to carry out a bomb attack in Buenos Aires in July 1994 and issued an executive order (fatwa) 39 to carry it out.”
Hezbollah, backed by Iran, is believed to have carried out the bombing. Basso said Khamenei “sponsored an armed organization that operates clandestinely outside of Lebanese territory and is linked to the Hezbollah movement”, which has conducted “numerous attacks… that must be clarified as terrorist acts, including the AMIA attack.”
The request marks a shift from previous prosecutors who considered Khamenei immune due to his official status. Basso argues the Supreme Leader “does not have immunity from responsibility for a crime with terrorist characteristics and against humanity”.
Firefighters and rescue workers search through the rubble of the Buenos Aires Jewish Community centre in July 1994.
Citing Article 27 of the Rome Statute, Basso said, “No form of immunity can be invoked before the International Criminal Court,” noting that this distinction between domestic and international immunity is key.
Khamenei, who became Supreme Leader in 1989, has ultimate authority over Iran’s intelligence and foreign policy, including appointing Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Basso argued.
The AMIA attack followed a 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, which killed 29. Both were claimed as retaliation by Hezbollah for the killing of its then-leader Abbas Musawi.
Former special prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who investigated the case, was found dead in 2015 before he was due to testify about an alleged government cover-up. He had prepared arrest warrants for senior officials, including then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
Argentina and Iran have maintained only low-level diplomatic ties since the bombing.
