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Iran candidate wanted in attack on Argentine Jews: I'd work with U.S.
By The Associated Press
Tags: Israel News, Iran, Argentina 

An Iranian presidential candidate who is wanted by Interpol in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina said Sunday he is willing to cooperate with the U.S. on regional security matters if elected.

Conservative candidate Mohsen Rezaei, speaking to reporters in Iran's capital also criticized hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his handling of the faltering economy and said his questioning of the Holocaust "has no benefit."

He made no mention, however, of the Argentine bombing case, which he has never spoken about publicly.
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Rezaei, who led Iran's Revolutionary Guards during the country's war with Iraq in the 1980s, is on a list of five Iranian officials sought by Interpol since 2007for the Buenos Aires bombing that killed 85 people. Iran has rejected any link to the bombing.

He is not considered a strong challenger to Ahmadinejad in the June 12 vote. But if elected, Iran would have a leader who could be shunned by other nations and whose travel would likely be limited due to Interpol's decision to add him to its most wanted list.

Still, Rezaei, a moderate conservative, is positioning himself as a candidate aiming to reverse what he calls Ahmadinejad's harmful foreign policy.

On Sunday he addressed the Obama administration's efforts to engage Iran, saying his country should respond and test whether Washington is serious.

"We are ready to have interactions with foreign countries on preserving security, peace and tranquility in the region," he said.

Rezaei said Iran should not wait for the U.S. to make the first move. He also hinted at a willingness to cooperate with the U.S. in Afghanistan, as Iran did before former President George W. Bush labeled the country part of an axis of evil.

Rezaei is among five Iranians sought by Argentina in the 1994 bombing. Argentine prosecutors allege that senior Iranian officials orchestrated the bombing and entrusted the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah to carry it out.

A van packed with explosives blew up on July 18, 1994, leveling the seven-story Jewish center. It killed 85 people and wounded 200. No one has been brought to justice in the attack.

In 2007, Interpol issued red notices for the five Iranians, the equivalent of putting them on its most-wanted list. The notices cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, but can put government leaders on the spot and limit suspects' travel.

Iran has refused to hand over the suspects and has rejected the allegations, calling them political fabrications resulting from U.S. and Israeli pressure.

The other suspects wanted by Interpol are former intelligence chief Ali Fallahian; Mohsen Rabbani, former cultural attaché at Iran's embassy in Buenos Aires; Ahmad Reza Asghari, a former diplomat; and Ahmad Vahidi, a Revolutionary Guards general.

Hezbollah militant Imad Mughniyeh, once one of the world's most sought terrorism suspects, was also named in the Interpol notices. He was killed in a car bombing in Syria in 2008 that Hezbollah blamed Israel for. Israel denied it.

Despite some support in his home region in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan in southwestern Iran and among Iran-Iraq war veterans, the 57-year-old Rezaei is not considered likely to win in June.

Related articles:
  • Argentina asks Iran to hand over suspects in 1994 Jewish center bombing
  • Argentina accuses Iran of meddling in probe of 1994 Jewish center bombing
  • Argentina: Iran behind bombs at Israeli embassy, Jewish center
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      1.   He has the necessary credentials for the positions. 14:59  |  17 03/05/09
      2.   lol Is Israel going to make a fiasco over this too? 16:05  |  KMX 03/05/09
      3.   KMX and those who think like him/her 16:50  |  Brant 03/05/09
      4.   MURDERING JEWS BRINGS FRIENDSHIP 17:04  |  Alka Seltzer 03/05/09
      5.   "work with US" 17:33  |  Christopher 03/05/09
      6.   To #2 17:37  |  Avram 03/05/09
      7.   An international mass murderer may be Iran`s President... think 18:04  |  Bernard 03/05/09
      8.   Re # 2 Living in a wrong address ??? 20:53  |  Ines 03/05/09
      9.   Re # and then he will also be invited to 20:56  |  Ines 03/05/09
      10.   Doesn`t anybody out there see the path negativity is taking 01:09  |  ks 04/05/09
      11.   TRANSLATION their economy is hurting despite the big talk 02:41  |  PETER SM 04/05/09
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