Argentine Prosecutor ‘Sebastián Basso’ Requests Federal Judge to Issue National and International Arrest Warrant for Ali Khamenei

Sebastián Basso, prosecutor general of Argentina, has requested that a federal judge issue national and international arrest warrants for Ali Khamenei.

The Guardian newspaper published a report based on Prosecutor Basso’s letter regarding the AMIA case, stating: “The leader of the Islamic Republic directed the decision to carry out an explosion in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994, and issued a fatwa for its execution.”

In this explosion, a van carrying explosives near the AMIA building destroyed the seven-story facility, which was the center of Jewish activities in Buenos Aires, resulting in 85 deaths and approximately 300 injured. Many of the victims and wounded in this incident, which is considered the deadliest event in the country’s history, were non-Jewish Argentine citizens.

According to the argument of Sebastián Basso, Argentina’s prosecutor general, Ali Khamenei has been a supporter of the terrorist groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and personally appointed its secretary-general as his representative in Lebanon. He also accused several high-ranking current and former Iranian officials and Hezbollah members of involvement in this bombing and the 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy in Argentina, which resulted in 22 deaths.

Prosecutor Basso, while referring to the constitution of the Islamic Republic, stated: “Everything in Iran, whether related to foreign policy or the use of force, depends on Ali Khamenei’s decision. Iran’s constitution stipulates in Article 110 that the leader is responsible for and has the authority to determine the country’s general policies, supervise their implementation, call referendums, and grant pardons or sentence reductions.

The leader of the Islamic Republic is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and controls military intelligence and security operations, and also has the authority over war or peace and mobilization of the armed forces. Khamenei has no immunity for crimes with terrorist characteristics and against humanity.”

Prosecutor Basso has now requested that a federal judge issue national and international arrest warrants for Ali Khamenei on charges of involvement in the bombing of the AMIA Jewish center.

Alberto Nisman, the previous prosecutor on this case, was killed in 2015 before testifying before the Argentine Congress about the Argentine government’s cover-up of Iranian involvement in the AMIA attack; Sebastián Basso then succeeded him on the case. The New York Times reported at the time that Alberto had prepared an arrest warrant for then-Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and accused her of reaching an agreement with Iranian officials to cover up Tehran’s involvement in the explosion.

Interpol also issued international arrest warrants in 2007 at the request of Argentine legal authorities for Mohsen Rabbani and Ahmad Reza Asgari, who were senior members of the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires and were accused of providing field assistance, and for Ali Akbar Velayati, Mohsen Rezaei, Ahmad Vahidi, and Ali Fallahian, and these arrest warrants remain in effect.

Javier Milei, president of Argentina, also called the Iranian government terrorist in July of last year, coinciding with the thirtieth anniversary of the AMIA bombing, and promised to end decades of inaction and lack of investigation into this attack.