AMIA bombing related Iran story gets no BBC coverage

Iran reportedly tells Interpol it wants to 'resolve' the 1994 AMIA bombing case - BBC News yawns.

The commemoration this week of the 23rd anniversary of the 1994 terrorist attack on the AMIA centre in Buenos Aires went unreported by the BBC’s English and Spanish language services.

That, however, is hardly surprising when one considers that since mid-2015 (when it produced a series of multi platform reports about the murder of prosecutor Alberto Nisman) there has been little if any BBC coverage of that ongoing story. That means that BBC audiences remain unaware of a development earlier this month.

“Official Iranian news outlets reported on Wednesday that the Tehran regime has agreed to work with Interpol, the global law enforcement agency, to “resolve” the “dispute” arising from the July 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, in which 85 people were murdered and hundreds more wounded. […]

A report from ISNA – one of the regime’s several news agencies – said that Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, met with Interpol’s Director-General Jurgen Stock in Tehran on Tuesday where they discussed the AMIA case. Stock was visiting the Iranian capital for a meeting of Project Kalkan, an Interpol initiative focused on counter-terrorism and narcotics smuggling in several countries in central Asia.

Araghchi stated Iran’s “readiness to cooperate with Interpol and Argentina for the proper settlement of the case, ‘AMIA,’” the ISNA report said.

But Araghchi also made clear to Stock his government’s displeasure with Interpol’s handling of the case, complaining about the outstanding “red notices” – effectively international arrest warrants – issued in 2007 for six Iranian officials in connection with the bombing. One of those named at the time was the Hezbollah terrorist leader Imad Fayez Mughniyeh, who also planned the 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut, in which more than 200 American military personnel lost their lives. Mughniyeh was killed in a car bombing incident in Damascus in 2008.

Araghchi also told Stock that the AMIA case had not been resolved because of the influence of “overt” and “covert” outside “vested interests” – a veiled reference to the State of Israel and international Jewish groups.”

The Long War Journal adds:

“Five Interpol red notices, which call for international cooperation to arrest and extradite the suspects for aggravated homicide in connection with the bombing of the AMIA, are in force against Iranian suspects in the bombing. At the time of the bombing, Mohsen Rezai was commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohsen Rabbani was Iran’s Cultural Attaché in Buenos Aires, Ahmad Vahidi was Iran’s Defense Minister, Amhad Asghari was third secretary in Iran’s Embassy in Argentina and Ali Fallahian, was Iran’s Minister of Intelligence. […]

Today’s AMIA leadership understands Iran’s move for what it is: yet another Iranian maneuver aimed at lifting the red notices from those who have been wanted by Interpol since 2007.

A statement from the AMIA rejects any negotiation with Iran: “The only formal cooperation [with Iran] that Argentina can accept is the appearance of those wanted by Interpol, and of the rest of the accused, before the [Argentine] judiciary.” […]

Interpol reviews red notices every 10 years and the AMIA red notices are up for review in Sept. 2017 at Interpol’s annual meeting in Beijing.”

On the day that families of the victims of the AMIA bombing gathered to commemorate their loved ones the BBC News website did, however, publish an article informing audiences that:

“The US has announced fresh sanctions against Iran over its ballistic missile programme and what it says is Iran’s support for terror organisations.” [emphasis added]

Related Articles:

The AMIA Attack: Terrorism, Cover-Up and the Implications for Iran (CAMERA)

Superficial BBC reporting on Iranian involvement in AMIA attack

New AMIA bombing revelation not news for the BBC

An Iranian story the BBC chose not to translate

 

 

 

 

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