Tracks of Terror

The Iranian Student Movement Up to the Minute Reports ^ | August 28, 2003 | The Economist

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Tracks of Terror

August 28, 2003 The Economist Beunos Aires and Tehran

The explosive arrest of an ambassador

IN 1994, a car bomb outside a Jewish welfare centre in Buenos Aires killed 85 people and injured more than 200. The investigation, led by Judge Juan José Galeano, has dragged on for years and achieved little—until now. Last week, Britain acted on an international arrest warrant issued by Mr Galeano, and detained Iran's former ambassador to Argentina, triggering a diplomatic kerfuffle. On August 27th Belgian police briefly detained a second Iranian wanted by Judge Galeano; he was released after claiming diplomatic immunity.

The Argentine intelligence service, with its Israeli and American counterparts, has long accused Hizbullah, the Lebanon-based “Party of God”, of carrying out the bombing with help from the Iranian embassy. The same alliance is also suspected in a similar attack in 1992 on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, which killed 29.

Iran's government denies the claims. It has reacted with fury to the arrest of Hadi Soleimanpour, who is studying for a PhD at Durham University. Britain's government, which has tried hard to improve its relations with Iran, insists that the arrest is a purely judicial matter. The British courts will now decide whether there is sufficient evidence to extradite Mr Soleimanpour. But Iran sees the hand of the United States in the affair. Facing pressure to abandon its nuclear ambitions (see article), it wants the matter solved quickly, and has hinted that it may expel the British ambassador.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Brief yourself on the events in Iran, the people, the issues that will likely effect all of our lives."

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail DoctorZin”

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Please post current comments on this on-going discussion thread. – Click Link Below!

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail DoctorZin”