Update: (November 9, 2006) An Argentine judge has ordered international arrest warrants for former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and eight others in connection with the 1994 bombing.

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New York, NY, October 26, 2006 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today praised prosecutors in Argentina for their efforts to obtain an arrest order against a handful of former Iranian leaders, including former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, for their suspected role in ordering the 1994 car bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people.

The chief prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, has said that the decision to attack the AMIA Jewish Center "was undertaken in 1993 by the highest authorities of the then-government of Iran," including the president, the intelligence chief and the foreign minister at the time.

"This is a most welcome development in a case that has eluded justice for the victims and their families for so long," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.  "The attempt to secure the arrest of former Iranian leaders sends a strong message to the former and current Iranian regimes, and indeed all nations who support terrorist acts either on their own or through proxies, that they cannot hide behind their titles, and that there will be consequences for nations and leaders who promote acts of terrorism.

"We hope that the federal judge and the Argentine government, working hand-in-hand with the international community, will ensure that the arrest orders are carried out and that all those responsible for the horrific bombing attack will be brought to justice," added Mr. Foxman.

ADL has remained at the forefront of efforts to bring to justice those responsible for the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Center -- in which 85 were killed and more than 200 injured -- and has repeatedly urged the Argentine government to pursue any and all leads in the investigation.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.