Iran Escalates Envoy Arrest Row
August 24, 2003
BBC News
BBCi
Iran has demanded an apology from the UK Government over the arrest of its former ambassador to Buenos Aires on terrorism charges.
President Mohammad Khatami escalated the diplomatic row with Argentina and the UK in remarks on Iranian state radio.
"I hope that the British Government will swiftly go back on this incorrect action and apologise," he said.
The former ambassador, Hadi Soleimanpour, was arrested by British police on Thursday in Durham, northeast England, over his alleged role in the bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in 1994 in which 85 people died.
He is to be held in custody until late August when a London court will rule on an Argentine extradition request.
President Khatami said the British Charge d'Affaires would again be summoned to the Foreign Ministry.
"What has happened has been politically motivated," he said
"There are currents behind the case trying to put the Islamic Republic under pressure by levelling baseless accusations and unfounded allegations against Tehran."
Ties cut with Argentina
Iran announced on Saturday that it was cutting cultural and economic ties with Argentina.
Senior British and Argentine diplomats were summoned to Iran's foreign ministry in protest at the arrest.
According to the state news agency, IRNA, the Argentine Charge d'Affaires was informed his government would be held accountable for all the legal and political impacts of the ruling.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wants full inspections of nuclear facilities
The British Charge d'Affaires was asked to order the immediate release of the former diplomat.
He is alleged to have been involved in planning and commissioning the bombing and that he provided information about the location and timing of the attack.
Mr Soleimanpour, who is now a research assistant at the University of Durham, denied the charges when he was arrested by police on Thursday.
The move provoked a media storm in Tehran, with one right-wing paper calling on the British ambassador to be kicked out.
The BBC's Miranda Eeles in Tehran says it is not yet clear how serious the diplomatic fall-out could be.
Relations between Iran and Britain have never been easy, but the trend in the last few years has shown signs of improvement.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has visited the country four times in the last two years and there is growing co-operation between the two countries over issues such as Afghanistan and fighting the drugs trade.
Diplomats say this tentative softening of relations could now be in jeopardy.
Eight warrants
The extradition warrant for Mr Soleimanpour was one of eight issued by an Argentine judge, Juan Jose Galeano, against Iranian citizens last week.
Similar warrants issued in March against four Iranian diplomats caused tension between Buenos Aires and Tehran, and resulted in the recall of the Iranian ambassador.
Last month, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner said the lack of progress in the case was a "national disgrace", and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.
Argentina's 300,000-strong Jewish community is the largest in Latin America, and has been the target of other attacks.
A 1992 bomb attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in which 29 people were killed also remains unsolved.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3177355.stm