within hours when Argentina demanded his arrest.
Vahidi rushed home and spoke repeatedly about his very successful visit to Bolivia. The Iranian people have not been told he was forced to return early.
Vahidi is one of a six Iranians wanted under arrest warrants issued by Argentina and distributed internationally by Interpol. They are accused of being behind the 1994 bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.
When Argentina learned that Vahidi was in Bolivia, it demanded that Vahidi be arrested and sent to Argentina. Vahidi arrived in Bolivia Tuesday morning and apparently left Tuesday night.
Bolivia declined to arrest Vahidi, noting that he was traveling on a diplomatic passport. But it told him he would have to leave right away to avoid getting Bolivia in even hotter water with Argentina.
Vahidi was the chief of the Qods Force of the Pasdaran in 1994. The Qods Force is the Pasdar branch that operates outside Iran. Vahidi was believed to be the principal behind the bombing.
Bolivia’s Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of Vahidi’s visit to Bolivia until he arrived. It said Vahidi had been invited to visit by his Bolivian counterpart, Maria Cecilia Chacon, who just took office in April. The Foreign Ministry made clear that she had never told the Foreign Ministry about Vahidi’s visit.
The intent was to make clear to Argentina that the Bolivian Foreign Ministry had no role in Vahidi’s visit. But it also made the Bolivian government look amateurish in that a major foreign figure could visit the country with the Foreign Ministry kept in the dark.
It is, however, possible that the Foreign Ministry was fibbing and actually knew about the visit, as it should have, but that its officials were ignorant about the fact that Vahidi was wanted by Argentina, an interpretation that would also make the Bolivian government look amateurish.
Vahidi attended a public ceremony in Santa Clara last Tuesday with both Defense Minister Chacon and President Evo Morales, who has made good relations with Iran a priority. However, Morales cannot ignore relations with Argentina, which borders Bolivia on the south.
Argentina has a population four times that of Bolivia and an economy 13 times larger. Argentina’s population is 85 percent European in origin while Bolivia is only 15 percent European and the majority is indigenous.
News reports said that Alberto Nisman, the Argentine prosecutor in charge of the 1994 bombing case, contacted Inter-pol’s office in Bolivia as soon as he heard Vahidi had landed in Bolivia.
Jewish groups in Argentina were incensed and used the visit to flog anti-Bolivian sentiments. “It is a mockery and an affront that a friendly country such as Bolivia receives a minister accused of masterminding an attack that left 85 people dead,” said Guillermo Borger, the president of the Jewish group whose seven-story building was leveled in the bombing.
Hector Timerman, the Argentine foreign minister, released a letter he received from his Bolivian counterpart, David Choquehuanca, apologizing.
The letter admitted the invitation to Vahidi was “a grave incident” and pledged that “the government of Bolivia has taken the corresponding provisions to see to it that Ahmad Vahidi immediately leaves Bolivian territory.” The letter blamed the blunder on the Bolivian Defense Ministry, which “did not know about the background of the case” and failed to coordinate the visit with the rest of the government.
The Daily Telegraph of London said Vahidi left Bolivia last Tuesday night without attending the second event he was due to attend.
Bolivia and Iran established full diplomatic relations only in 2007. Presidents Morales and Ahmadi-nejad have since met with one another multiple times. Iran has pledged substantial financial aid to Bolivia, which appears to be Bolivia’s main interest in the relationship.
The West is primarily interested in what involvement Iran has with Bolivian lithium, a mineral that can be used in detonating nuclear weapons and has now become of international interest for its use in small batteries. Many see lithium as a key to the successful development of electric cars. About 70 percent of the world’s known lithium is in Bolivia.
Last September, at the end of a visit to Tehran, Morales announced that Iran would “partner” with Bolivia in developing the lithium reserves. Seven months have passed but no one has yet explained what “partnering” means.
