CRIF incensed by the appointment of a terrorist as Iran’s Minister of Defence, issues open letter

CRIF does not forget that this man was one of the key organisers behind the terrible attack against the Jewish Community Centre (AMIA) in Buenos Aires that caused the death of 85 people and wounded hundreds others in 1994.

In 2007, Interpol put out a “top priority” international arrest warrant against him.

So it is this criminal who is destined to take up a high position in Iran, the very week that the author of the Lockerbie bombing was triumphantly welcomed back to Tripoli.

CRIF does not forget that Libya and Iran play a major role on the board of the UN Council for Human Rights.

In a related issue, CRIF issued an open letter to protest against the coming of Iran’s President at the UN. The letter, to be signed by political leaders, reads:

“Let us not give the floor to those who do not respect the right to speak”

Seizing the occasion of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s address to the UN General Assembly on 24 September 2009 in New York, the signatories of the petition recall that:

- (…) Mr Ahmadinjed was re-elected on 12 June 2009 by rigging the elections and is fiercely repressing his political opponents, those who are defending human rights, journalists, bloggers, intellectuals, homosexuals, women, teachers, students, trade unionists and members of religious or ethnic minorities.

- (…) Mr Ahmadinjed, who denies the reality of the Holocaust, has repeatedly stated his determination to destroy the State of Israel and everything indicates that he is seeking to give Iran the nuclear weapon.

- The new Minister of Defence appointed by Mr Ahmadinejad is sought by Interpol since 2007 for being one of the organisers of the terrible attack against the Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires in 1994, which caused 85 deaths and 200 wounded.

Under its present leadership Iran is (…) a danger for peace and stability in the world. We call on the international community to sanction the Iranian regime and ceaselessly speak out against the oppression being inflicted on the Iranian people. The future of world peace is at stake. »