VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0182/01 0311705
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 311705Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7124
INFO RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000182 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA FOR A/S SHANNON, DAS DUDDY, AND DMCCARTHY 
WHA/BSC FOR BARNES, FRIEDMAN, AND BLAKENEY 
NEA/IR FOR HWOOSTER 
S/CT FOR VIRGINIA PALMER AND ARNOLD SIERRA 
NSC FOR JUAN ZARATE AND JOSE CARDENAS 
FBI FOR CTD IRAN-HIZBALLAH UNIT AND OIO AMERICAS UNIT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2016 
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV KJUS AR FBI
SUBJECT: CLASH AT INTERPOL LEADS TO HEIGHTENED TENSIONS 
BETWEEN ARGENTINA AND IRAN 
 
REF: 1. BUENOS AIRES 93 2. BUENOS AIRES 43 3. 2006 
 
     BUENOS AIRES 2745 4. 2006 BUENOS AIRES 2665 
 
Classified By: Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne, Reasons: 
1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT.  On January 22, an Argentine 
delegation, led by MFA Ambassador Guillermo Gonzalez and 
including AMIA special prosecutors, met at Interpol 
headquarters in Lyon with Secretary General Noble and other 
Interpol officials to argue their case for issuing Red 
Notices for the suspects of the July 18, 1994 AMIA bombing. 
On January 30th, Ambassador met with Vice Foreign Minister 
(VFM) Garcia Moritan and DCM spoke with Ambassador Gonzalez 
to obtain their read-out of the meeting.  Both confirmed that 
the Special Prosecutors had made a very strong presentation 
of the new evidence and had made significant progress in 
convincing senior Interpol officials of the seriousness of 
the GOA investigation.  In the face of Argentina's strong 
presentation of evidence in Lyon, the Iranian delegation 
threatened to issue arrest warrants for the AMIA prosecutors. 
 The GOA responded swiftly to the Iranian gesture, which it 
perceived as an act of "intimidation", with VFM Garcia 
Moritan convoking Iranian Charg d' Affairs Mohsen Baharvand 
to register the GOA's formal complaint.  Following the 
January 22 meeting, Interpol Secretary General Ron Noble 
deferred the decision on whether to issue the Red Notices to 
Interpol's Executive Committee, next scheduled to meet in 
March. 
 
¶2.  (C) Garcia Moritan told Ambassador that the GOA would 
greatly appreciate, and likely need, the USG's quiet 
diplomatic efforts prior to the Executive Committee meeting. 
USG has strongly supported the GOA AMIA investigation and its 
recent efforts to obtain Red Notices from Interpol.  Failure 
of this effort at Interpol in March would be seen as a 
victory for Iran.  Embassy urges that USG does all we can to 
support positive Interpol Executive Committee action and 
seeks guidance on next steps.  END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 
 
-------------------------------- 
A Clash at Interpol Headquarters 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) On January 22, a GOA delegation, led by MFA 
Ambassador Gonzalez and including AMIA prosecutors Alberto 
Nisman and Marcelo Burgos, met with Interpol Secretary 
General Ron Noble and other senior Interpol officials in 
Lyon, France, to defend the Argentine Investigating Judge's 
request for the issuance of Red Notices authorizing the 
arrest of Iranian ex-President Ali Bahrame Rafjansani and 
eight other officials (including one Hizballah official), who 
remain the chief suspects in the July 1994 bombing of the 
AMIA building in Buenos Aires.  The Lyon meeting was also 
attended by a senior GOI delegation led by Khalil Helali 
Mohammadi, Colonel of Police and Head of the Criminal 
Investigation Department of Interpol Tehran, as well as other 
senior GOI and MFA officials. 
 
¶4.  (C) VFM Garcia Moritan told Ambassador on January 30 that 
the meetings had gone well, with a very strong GOA 
presentation of the evidence against the Iranian and 
Hizballah suspects.  MFA Ambassador Guillermo Gonzalez gave a 
very similar assessment to DCM in a meeting on January 30. 
Gonzalez observed that prosecutor Nisman did a "superb" job 
in his 90-minute presentation before the Interpol Director of 
Legal Affairs, Dr. Martha.  Nisman's presentation was 
extremely well structured, with specific details of the 
evidence being presented in the case against each of the 
suspects.  Gonzalez explained that the meeting with Martha 
followed a brief bilateral meeting among Ron Noble, other 
Interpol officials, and the Argentine delegation, which began 
badly when Interpol officials asked if Nisman had come to 
Lyon with anything more than the "garbage" that former Judge 
Galeano had brought in 2005.  In a January 30 brief 
discussion with Ambassador, DCM and Legatt, AMIA Special 
Prosecutor Alberto Nisman also said the GOA presentation in 
Lyon had made significant progress in convincing senior 
Interpol officials of the seriousness and strength of the new 
evidence in the AMIA case, but he stated clearly that the 
critical stage was now to ensure that the Interpol 
recommendation to the Executive Committee was to support the 
GOA requests for Red Notices. 
 
¶5.  (C) According to Ambassador Gonzalez, the GOI response to 
the GOA presentation was to question the evidence and the 
credibility of the witnesses.  The GOI reps talked of their 
willingness to cooperate, but then very aggressively 
denounced the entire case, saying that the GOA was doing 
nothing more than presenting the same bad evidence that 
Galeano had presented earlier.  They decried that the 
Argentine accusations were false and politically motivated, 
and should thus carry no legal weight. 
 
¶6.  (C) As part of their efforts to derail the GOA's 
presentation of its new findings and block the request for 
issuance of Red Notices, the Iranian delegation then 
threatened to issue arrest warrants for Argentine prosecutors 
Nisman and Martinez Burgos if they insisted on the detention 
of the former Iranian president and other officials. 
Ambassador Gonzalez provided details of how the senior 
Iranian police official had said that the GOI will demand 
that Interpol "arrest Nisman to present to the justice system 
in Iran."  Gonzalez protested the GOI threat on the spot. 
This first threat was followed by a statement by the GOI 
Legal Advisor, who mentioned that the GOI "Religious 
prosecutor" is considering presenting a case against Nisman 
personally for his defaming remarks about Iran and Iranian 
officials.  He said that the GOI would prosecute whomever 
says things like Nisman is saying against the Iranian state. 
A third GOI threat related to their stated intention to sue 
GOA officials for their judicial actions as the GOI 
reportedly did in the wake of the unsuccessful efforts in 
1995 to extradite the former Iranian Ambassador to Argentina 
at the time of the 1994 bombing to Argentina from the UK. 
 
------------------------ 
An Act of "Intimidation" 
------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (C) The Iranians' actions in Lyon prompted a swift 
response by the Argentine Government.  On January 25, VFM 
Garcia Moritan convoked Iranian Charg Mohsen Baharvand and 
lodged a formal protest.  Garcia Moritan told Ambassador 
January 30, that he had expressed his disgust over what he 
considered Iranian "intimidation".  Garcia Moritan said he 
requested that Baharvand share these sentiments with Tehran. 
Press accounts indicate that Foreign Minister Taiana himself 
decided to respond in this manner, in close consultations 
with President Kirchner.  As indicated in Argentine news 
daily La Nacion, the prompt registration of the complaint and 
level of the Argentine official delivering it demonstrate the 
great importance this issue carries in Argentina.  (Note: 
Last November, the Iranian Attorney General threatened the 
arrest of Argentine prosecutors under the assertion that they 
had violated the Iranian Penal Code by propagandizing against 
the Islamic Republic of Iran.  End Note.) 
 
---------- 
Next Steps 
---------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Ambassador Gonzalez said that Interpol SECGEN Noble 
spoke of March 20-22 as the most likely dates for the next 
Interpol Executive Committee meeting, but then in a final 
exchange with Gonzalez after the January 22 meeting said that 
the more likely dates would be March 13-15.  Gonzalez said 
that the Interpol Director for Legal Affairs would now assess 
the arguments presented on January 22 and make 
recommendations on each of the GOA requests for Red Notices. 
These recommendations would be conveyed to members of the 
Interpol Executive Committee, which will analyze the 
arguments of Argentina and Iran, and likely will decide in 
March whether to advise issuing the Red Notices for the eight 
former Iranian officials and a member of Hizballah. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9.  (C) Comment:  Iran's continued aggressive and ham-handed 
attempts to intimidate Argentina play into our hands and 
should reinforce our resolve to support GOA efforts with 
Interpol, though in a quiet way.  We remain concerned with 
SECGEN Noble,s apparent predisposition to side with the GOI, 
but the prosecutor's strong presentation at the January 
meeting in Lyon appears to have made significant progress in 
making it clear that the current investigation is very 
different than the earlier Galeano one and that the evidence 
is itself very strong.  This and continued expressions of 
support from the USG and the U.S. Congress (Chairman Lantos's 
letter to Noble) are undercutting Noble's arguments that the 
Argentines have not made their case.  Post looks to 
Washington for further guidance on next steps, including 
quiet USG support for GOA efforts with the Interpol Executive 
Committee, as suggested by VFM Garcia Moritan.  However, Post 
urges that we do all we can to support positive consideration 
of the GOA requests by the Interpol Executive Committee. 
WAYNE