Iran appoints AMIA bombing suspect to National Security Council

What Happened

On Monday, a spokesman for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced that Mohsen Rezaei had resigned as an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and would assume the role of secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Rezaei, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), is wanted by Argentina and subject to an Interpol Red Notice for his alleged role in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people. Earlier in 2025, Ahmad Vahidi, another suspect in the same case and also subject to a Red Notice, was appointed IRGC commander. In a landmark 2024 ruling, an Argentine court held Iran and Hezbollah responsible for the bombing. In June 2025, Argentina’s federal judiciary ordered that 10 Iranian and Lebanese suspects, including Rezaei and Vahidi, be tried in absentia.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The appointment of AMIA bombing suspects to senior security posts signals Iran’s continued defiance of international arrest warrants and legal proceedings. It reinforces perceptions that Iran protects and promotes individuals implicated in state-sponsored terrorism, potentially escalating diplomatic tensions with Argentina and Western allies, and complicating broader efforts to hold Iranian officials accountable.

Watch For

Argentina’s diplomatic response, including possible protests at the UN or other international bodies; updates on Interpol Red Notices and cooperation requests; progress in the in absentia trial ordered by Argentina’s federal judiciary; reactions from Israel and the United States, which have historically pursued accountability for the AMIA bombing.