Argentina judge requests arrest of Iran adviser for bombing

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – An Argentine judge is requesting that Singapore and Malaysia arrest an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader who is accused of masterminding the South American country’s worst terrorist attack.

Ali Akbar Velayati was foreign minister of Iran at the time of the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires and is now an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Velayati is visiting Southeast Asia to attend a regional summit.

Argentine Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his request seeks to reinforce existing arrest orders.

Former Iranian officials have been on an Interpol capture list for years, but Argentine prosecutors have never been able to question them. Iran has long denied any role in the bombing that killed 85 people.