Wanted AMIA Bombing Suspect Appointed As Interior Minister

(New York, N.Y.) — President Ebrahim Raisi appointed former Defense Minister and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force commander, Ahmad Vahidi, as Interior Minister, adding yet another hardline conservative to his Cabinet. Vahidi is wanted by Interpol for his alleged involvement in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and wounded hundreds more.

In the recently published profile, Ahmad Vahidi: Islamic Republic Of Iran Minister Of Interior, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) details Vahidi’s career in the Qods Force, Defense Ministry, and what to expect from him as Interior Minister. The Interior Minister heads the Security Council of the Supreme National Security Council, and is the police deputy to the commander-in-chief and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The police act as the regime’s first line of defense during protests. In light of two nationwide, anti-government protests since 2017, some have labeled ministry as the most strategically important in the Islamic Republic. 

Vahidi is known for his hardline views. He joined the IRGC in 1980, a year after the 1979 revolution, and was eventually appointed first commander of the IRGC Qods Force, and played a significant role in the AMIA terrorist attack in Buenos Aires. Argentine Special Prosecutor Alberto Nisman concluded in 2006 that the AMIA attack “was extensively discussed and was ultimately adopted by a consensus at the highest levels of the Iranian government.” As a result of Nisman’s investigation, an Argentinean court issued international arrest warrants for nine Iranian and Hezbollah officials, including Vahidi. Interpol subsequently issued Red Notices for Vahidi and five of his co-conspirators. 

In August 2021, Vahidi presented his plan to the Iranian Parliament that included 148 executive actions. He pledged to support domestic production, develop border areas, address narcotics addiction, “strengthen and support individual and social freedom, and support law enforcement.” The Islamic Republic, of course, has long pledged that it respects liberty, but its actions, including the widespread arrests of dissent, and censorship, say otherwise. 

To read UANI’s resource, Ahmad Vahidi: Islamic Republic Of Iran Minister Of Interior, please click here. 

To read UANI’s resource, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), please click here. 

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