Argentina has asked Russia to arrest former Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati for extradition in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

Velayati is in Russia as a special advisor to President Hassan Rouhani and will travel to China on Friday, so the same request has also been made to Chinese authorities, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Argentina is awaiting a response from Russia to the request, which was made "within the framework of the extradition treaty between the two countries," the statement said.

Velayati was foreign minister when a bomb destroyed the headquarters of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) on July 18, 1994 leaving 85 dead and 300 people wounded.

He is charged with "committing the crime of homicide, classified as doubly aggravated for having been committed with racial or religious hatred and a suitable method to cause widespread danger," according to the judge responsible for the case.

Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group is accused of the carrying out the bombing of the Jewish center and an attack on Israel's embassy in Buenos Aires two years earlier at Iran's demand. </s> BUENOS AIRES, July 13 — Argentina has asked Russia to arrest former Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati for extradition in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, the foreign ministry said yesterday.

Velayati is in Russia as a special advisor to President Hassan Rouhani and will travel to China today, so the same request has also been made to Chinese authorities, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Argentina is awaiting a response from Russia to the request, which was made “within the framework of the extradition treaty between the two countries,” the statement said.

Velayati was foreign minister when a bomb destroyed the headquarters of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) on July 18, 1994 leaving 85 dead and 300 people wounded.

He is charged with “committing the crime of homicide, classified as doubly aggravated for having been committed with racial or religious hatred and a suitable method to cause widespread danger,” according to the judge responsible for the case.

Lebanon’s Shiah Hezbollah group is accused of the carrying out the bombing of the Jewish center and an attack on Israel’s embassy in Buenos Aires two years earlier at Iran’s demand. — AFP </s> BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — An Argentine federal judge investigating the 1994 Buenos Aires AMIA Jewish center bombing has asked Russian officials to arrest a high-level Iranian adviser to the country’s supreme leader in connection with the attack.

Alí Akbar Velayati was scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in Moscow. Velayati, who was Iran’s foreign minister at the time of the terrorist attack and has been implicated in ordering the bombing, is now an adviser on international affairs to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Velayati is among special envoys that Iran is sending to various countries in response to the U.S. withdrawal earlier this year from the 2015 nuclear deal.

“After Mr. Trump’s strategic mistake in unilaterally withdrawing, the Islamic Republic of Iran decided to send special envoys to different countries conveying the message of high officials of Iran containing our stances, positions, and approaches towards this arrogant and illegal move of the U.S.,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said in describing the Wednesday visit of Velayati to Moscow.

Following news reports of the visit, Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral requested the arrest of Velayati. There has been an international arrest warrant against Velayati and seven other Iranian officials since 2006. The AMIA bombing killed 85 and injured hundreds.

Iran also is believed to be behind the 1992 car bombing that destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring 242.

In 2016, ahead of another Velayati trip, Argentina made requests for his arrest to Singapore and Malaysia but was not successful.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also was expected to meet with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday. </s> BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — An Argentine federal judge investigating the 1994 Buenos Aires AMIA Jewish center bombing has asked Russian officials to arrest a high-level Iranian adviser to the country’s supreme leader in connection with the attack.

Ali Akbar Velayati was scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in Moscow. Velayati, who was Iran’s foreign minister at the time of the terrorist attack and has been implicated in ordering the bombing, is now an adviser on international affairs to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Velayati is among special envoys that Iran is sending to various countries in response to the US withdrawal earlier this year from the 2015 nuclear deal.

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“After Mr. Trump’s strategic mistake in unilaterally withdrawing, the Islamic Republic of Iran decided to send special envoys to different countries conveying the message of high officials of Iran containing our stances, positions, and approaches towards this arrogant and illegal move of the US,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said in describing the Wednesday visit of Velayati to Moscow.

Following news reports of the visit, Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral requested the arrest of Velayati. There has been an international arrest warrant against Velayati and seven other Iranian officials since 2006. The AMIA bombing killed 85 and injured hundreds.

Iran also is believed to be behind the 1992 car bombing that destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring 242.

In 2016, ahead of another Velayati trip, Argentina made requests for his arrest to Singapore and Malaysia but was not successful.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also met with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday when he discussed Israel’s demands for a withdrawal of Iranian forces from Syria, where they are helping the regime battle rebels in a civil war.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. </s> Argentina's Foreign Ministry says it has asked Russia to arrest and extradite former Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, citing his alleged role in a 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

Velayati, who is now a top aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was visiting Moscow on July 12 for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, but planned to travel to China on July 13.

Argentina's ministry said in a statement that it had made the same extradition request to China and was awaiting Russia's response to its request, which it said was made "within the framework of the extradition treaty between the two countries."

Velayati was foreign minister when a bomb destroyed the headquarters of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association on July 18, 1994, leaving 85 people dead and 300 wounded. It was the biggest terrorist attack in Argentina's history.

Argentine prosecutors have described Velayati as one of the "ideological masterminds behind the attack," which targeted Argentina's Jewish population of 300,000.

Velayati is charged in Argentina with "committing the crime of homicide, classified as doubly aggravated for having been committed with racial or religious hatred and a suitable method to cause widespread danger," according to the judge responsible for the case.

Lebanon's Shi'ite Hizballah militant group is accused of carrying out the bombing of the Jewish center as well as an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires two years earlier, which killed 29 people, both allegedly at Tehran's behest.

Iran and Velayati have denied any involvement in the attacks.

Velayati is one of five top Iranian officials who Argentine investigators say ordered the attacks, along with former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is now deceased, and former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Commander Mohsen Rezaie.

Argentina's failure to bring any of the accused to justice in over two decades led to a longrunning scandal involving former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who negotiated a deal with Iran in 2013 that prosecutors say enabled the accused Iranians to avoid prosecution.

Fernandez and several of her aides were indicted on treason charges in December in connection with the 2013 deal, which prosecutors allege provided Iran with legal cover to escape prosecution in exchange for a normalization of relations and a grain-for-oil deal with Buenos Aires.

The agreement created a joint commission to investigate the Jewish center bombing that critics said was really a means to absolve Iran.

Fernandez has denied the charges, arguing that she made the deal because Iran and Argentina had no extradition agreement, and Argentina does not carry out trials in absentia, leaving authorities with no other way to respond to the bombings.

With reporting by AFP and Interfax </s> Russian President Vladimir Putin met Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday in Moscow, RIA news agency reported, without providing any details.

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin met Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday in Moscow, RIA news agency reported, without providing any details.

Velayati hailed Iran's ties with Russia on Wednesday as "strategic" and said he would deliver messages to Putin from Khamenei and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. His visit comes as Iran braces for renewed U.S. economic sanctions. </s> Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, says Iran coordinates its military presence in Syria with Moscow and Damascus.

Velayati made the remarks in Moscow Friday amid reports that Iran's role in Syria will be a key item at a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Helsinki on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Putin in Moscow Wednesday, saying after the meeting, “Our opinion is known that Iran needs to leave Syria.”

Velayati said Iran and Russia's presence in Syria will continue to protect the country against terrorist groups and America's aggression.

They "will immediately leave if Iraqi and Syrian governments want it, not because of Israel and America's pressure," he added.

Velayati touched on the objectives of the Israeli leader's visit to Moscow where he "repeated his delusional and threadbare accusations against Iran," state news agency IRNA reported.

"The process of developing relations between Iran and Russia is not one-sided and therefore, the irrelevant, meaningless and interventionist claims made by Netanyahu do not affect Iran-Russia relations," he said.

Velayati, the Leader's adviser on international affairs, traveled to Moscow on Wednesday to convey a message from Ayatollah Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's written letter to President Putin.

"It can be said that the sending of the important and strategic message of the Supreme Leader, as well as the message of the president and long talks with Putin were a turning point in the relations between Iran and Russia," he said.

Velayati said it was agreed that the decisions of the meeting be followed up and pursued effectively by the authorities of the two countries and reported to Ayatollah Khamenei and Presidents Putin and Rouhani so that any problem could be solved with the order of top officials.

Velayati described his Thursday meeting with Putin ahead of the Trump-Putin summit as "very decisive."

"On the one hand, NATO has convened under the US centrality, raising certain points in a clause against Iran. On the other hand, there are plans for Iran and Russia to consider uniting against the pressures of America and its followers in the region and some Western countries."

The official touched on the alliance of the "resistance front" as well as Iran and Russia in their campaign against foreign-backed terrorists in Syria, saying they will be the winner of the ongoing conflict.

"We hope that the cooperation between Iran and Russia will be a model for cooperation among Iran, China, India and some of the major East Asian countries, helping publicly realize a strategic vision to develop relations with the eastern countries."

Iran's former Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told Tasnim news agency that Velayati's visit to Moscow was "very important," taking place in a "sensitive juncture."

"Mr. Putin seated Dr. Velayati across from himself at the table, making the meeting be seen a serious negotiation and taking any sense of formality out of it. The sort of sitting arrangement represented the atmosphere that exists in the relationship," he said.

"Face-to-face negotiations are reserved for the peers in diplomatic relations and this arrangement suggested that Mr. Putin had placed Dr. Velayati in a rank akin to himself and attached importance to the meeting," Asefi said.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin and Velayati exchanged views on bilateral Tehran-Moscow relations and the developments in the Middle East, including the Syria crisis. </s> A top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed his country’s “strategic relationship” with Russia on Wednesday during a visit to Moscow, part of a diplomatic offensive by Tehran as it braces for renewed US sanctions.

Ali Akbar Velayati, who is due to meet President Vladimir Putin, also took a swipe at US President Donald Trump, saying his “unreliable” actions made Tehran’s close ties with Moscow all the more necessary. The United States pulled out of a multinational deal in May to lift sanctions against Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear programme. Washington says it will reimpose sanctions and has told other countries to halt all imports of Iranian oil from Nov. 4 or face US financial measures.

“The relationship between Iran and the Russian Federation is a strategic relationship and in recent years the collective bilaterial and regional relations have expanded,” Iran’s ISNA news agency quoted Velayati as saying on arrival in Moscow. He said he would deliver messages to Putin from Iran’s Supreme Leader and President Hassan Rouhani and that they would discuss the “very sensitive” global situation.

Velayati cited Russian and Iranian cooperation in Syria, where they both support President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the seven-year Syrian civil war against what the Iranian official called “terrorism and its sponsors”. “Only a strategic and long-term relationship (with Russia) can continue this cooperation,” said Velayati, who was also due to meet Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak in Moscow.

Velayati, who is also expected to visit China in the near future, described Trump as an “unreliable individual… with relation to international law who necessitates more and more cooperation (between Iran and Russia)”. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, a special adviser on international affairs to the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said Velayati was scheduled to meet Putin on Thursday and would discuss ways to confront US policy in the Middle East region.

“A frank dialogue with Russian leaders at the highest levels and exchanging views can lead to the views of the two countries moving closer and help in finding ways to increase stability and security in the region and confront the improper policies of America and its allies,” Amir-Abdollahian, a former deputy foreign minister, said on Wednesday, according to state media.

A US State Department official said this month that Washington’s goal was to get as many countries as possible down to zero Iranian oil imports. However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday the United States might consider requests from some countries to be exempted from sanctions.

 Apart from the United States, the other signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain – have said they still support the accord.

But European firms are reluctant to risk far-reaching US financial penalties they would face for doing business in Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who views Iran as Israel’s arch-enemy and strongly backs Trump’s decision to quit the nuclear deal, was also visiting Moscow on Wednesday. Asked about Netanyahu’s visit, Velayati said: “His presence or absence in Russia has no effect on our strategic mission in Moscow.” Israel is concerned that Iran is establishing a military presence in neighbouring Syria and it has attacked Iranian targets there.

Amir-Abollahian said Netanyahu was likely to ask for Putin’s help to push Iran’s military advisers out of Syria but added that this was an issue that could only be decided between Tehran and Damascus.

 Trump and Putin are expected to discuss Iran’s regional role and the Syrian conflict at a summit in Helsinki next Monday.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App </s> An Iranian diplomat has been arrested along with two people suspected of plotting a bomb attack on a meeting of an exiled Iranian opposition group in France, Belgian authorities said yesterday.

President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani and several former European and Arab ministers were among those attending the meeting of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran.

The two suspects in Belgium were intercepted by Belgian police on Saturday, with 500 grams of TATP, a home-made explosive produced of easily available chemicals, as well as a detonation device found in their car, a joint statement by the Belgian prosecutor and the intelligence services said.

The 38-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman, identified only as Amir S. and Nasimeh N., were charged with attempted terrorist murder and preparation of a terrorist act, it said.

Two arrests linked to the Belgian case were made in France and Germany. The person arrested in Germany was a diplomat at the Iranian embassy in the Austrian capital Vienna, the Belgian statement said.

Staff at the embassy said the ambassador was not immediately available for comment. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is due to visit Austria tomorrow.

The Belgian statement gave no further details about diplomat, other than saying they were suspected of having been in contact with the Belgian pair arrested. It gave no details about the fourth suspect, arrested in France.

NCRI is an umbrella bloc of opposition groups in exile that seek an end to Shiite Muslim clerical rule in Iran.
Argentina petitions Russia to arrest former Iranian foreign minister and Ali Khamenei's advisor Ali Akbar Velayati, who is currently in Moscow for a meeting with Vladimir Putin, over his alleged role in the 1994 Jewish center bombing.