Iranian suspect in Argentine Jewish center bomb case calls charges ‘lies’

Suspect: Charges in Argentine bomb case are ‘lies’

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — An Iranian accused of masterminding the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center that killed 85 people dismissed the allegations as “lies” on Tuesday and said he won’t appear before an Argentine court.

Moshen Rabbani, Iran’s former cultural attache in Buenos Aires, was interviewed on Radio Cooperativa by Argentine protest leader Luis D’Elia during a trip to Tehran. That meeting has offended Argentine Jews and the prosecutor investigating the bombing. D’Elia and Rabbani dismissed them as “Zionists” in the radio interview.

Rabbani is among six bombing suspects on Interpol’s most-wanted list. He said he should not be considered a fugitive and said Iran “had nothing to do with the bombings.”

Argentine prosecutors allege the attack was orchestrated by Iranian government leaders and entrusted to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.

The Argentine government says D’Elia doesn’t speak for anyone but himself. But the protest leader is considered close to the government of President Cristina Fernandez, and victims have called on her to denounce his comments.

“She is the main judge who should say once and for all for everyone that what D’Elia is doing is offensive,” attorney Sergio Burstein told Radio 10.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry asked the Fernandez government to go even further and stop D’Elia’s pro-Iran activities.

“They have to talk to him to stop these meetings between an Argentine politician and a criminal,” said Dorit Shavit, director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry for Latin America and the Caribbean. Shavit talked to the Jewish News Agency.

D’Elia has supported Iran for years. He resigned his post as deputy secretary of housing under former President Nestor Kirchner after criticizing Argentina’s arrest warrant for Rabbani.