Latest news with #Irán
Al Arabiya
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Spain charges 8 in Iran-linked assassination attempt on ex-politician Vidal-Quadras
Spain's High Court charged eight individuals on Wednesday with the attempted assassination of former right wing politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras over his ties to an Iranian opposition group and support for dissident groups. Vidal-Quadras, 80, a founder of Spain's far-right Vox party, was shot in the face by a motorbike pillion passenger as he walked through Madrid's upscale Salamanca neighborhood on November 9, 2023. The bullet passed through his jaw. Investigating judge Santiago Pedraz said the assault was ordered by unidentified individuals seeking revenge for Vidal-Quadras' advocacy for resistance to Iran's clerical government. 'Unidentified individuals instructed members of the criminal organization ... to carry out 'a mission' consisting of ending the life of Alejo Vidal-Quadras,' the judge said in a court document seen by Reuters. The suspects, Pedraz said, were part of a coordinated group involved in crimes targeting the lives of individuals, with some members reportedly under investigation in multiple countries. The Dutch intelligence agency said earlier this year it suspected Tehran of being behind two assassination attempts in Europe. The suspected hitman in the Vidal-Quadras case was arrested in Netherlands, where he is also linked to an assassination attempt on an Iranian resident. The eight suspects, charged with membership in a criminal organization and attempted terrorist murder, are alleged to have procured materials such as vehicles, funds and weapons as part of their operation, the judge said. 'I am very happy that the judge has produced this statement because that reflects the reality of the case,' Vidal-Quadras told Reuters on Wednesday. 'Let's hope that now the government will take some action.' Prosecutors and defense lawyers may appeal the charges before the case moves to trial. Iran had included Vidal-Quadras on a sanctions list in October 2022, in retaliation for EU sanctions imposed after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman arrested for allegedly flouting Iran's mandatory dress code.
Washington Post
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Argentina to put Iranians and Lebanese on trial in absentia over 1994 Jewish center bombing
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — An Argentine judge on Thursday ordered that the seven Iranians and three Lebanese citizens accused of involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires face trial in absentia for the first time in the long-running case plagued by setbacks and controversy.
Associated Press
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Argentina to put Iranians and Lebanese on trial in absentia over 1994 Jewish center bombing
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — An Argentine judge on Thursday ordered that the seven Iranians and three Lebanese citizens accused of involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires face trial in absentia for the first time in the long-running case plagued by setbacks and controversy. For years Argentine courts have ordered that the suspects — Iranian former officials and Lebanese nationals — be apprehended and brought before a judge because Argentina never allowed trials in absentia. Past efforts to encourage foreign governments to arrest the suspects, including an influential advisor to Iran's supreme leader, on the basis of Interpol red alerts never gained traction. But right-wing President Javier Milei, a loyal ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and fierce critic of Iran who studies the Torah with a rabbi despite being born Catholic, pushed a bill through Congress earlier this year that authorizes trials in absentia for fugitives that have long sought to evade justice — allowing Argentina to put the defendants on trial for the first time. On Thursday, Judge Daniel Rafecas approved the trial in absentia following a request from the special prosecutor's office responsible for investigating the 1994 attack, the deadliest in the South American country's history, which killed 85 people two years after a separate bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires killed 22 people. Rafecas described the trial as the only way to avoid impunity now more than 30 years after the bombing. 'Trial in absentia, however limited, remains a tool that allows us, at the very least, to attempt to uncover the truth, reconstruct what happened, and, above all, give those representing the victims a place to express themselves publicly in this process,' he wrote in his ruling. Last year, a high court in Argentina ruled that the Iranian government had masterminded the 1994 attack on the center, known by its acronym AMIA, and that members of Lebanon's Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah had carried it out. Iran has long denied any involvement in the attacks. Among the seven Iranians who are subject to Argentine arrest warrants are former Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian, former commander of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Mohsen Rezaei and former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, who now advises Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The three Lebanese citizens include Salman Raouf Salman, who allegedly coordinated the attack, and fellow Hezbollah members Abdallah Salman and Hussein Mounir Mouzannar. All have been declared in contempt of court, in some cases decades ago. Advancing the AMIA case has been a key goal of Milei, who concluded a trip to Jerusalem on June 12, the night before Israel launched its unprecedented air campaign targeting Iran's nuclear sites and military leadership. Milei escalated his rhetoric against Iran and in support of Israel during the 12-day war between the regional foes, calling the Islamic republic 'an enemy of Argentina' and praising Israel as 'saving Western civilization.' ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
LBCI
26-06-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Argentina to try ten suspects in 1994 bombing of Jewish center in absentia: AFP
Argentina will try in absentia ten Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people, a ruling seen by AFP on Thursday said. The attack, which caused devastation in Latin America's biggest Jewish community, has never been claimed or solved, but Argentina and Israel have long suspected Hezbollah of carrying it out at Iran's request. AFP
