Tehran, September 06: Tehran called on the United States Sunday to “respect” the appointment of General Ahmad Vahidi as Iran’s new defence minister, Mehr news agency reported. The US had criticized Vahidi’s appointment due his alleged involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Argentina, which killed 85 people.
“We recommend that the US government respect the will of the Iranian nation and regret the stance taken by Washington in this regard,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said.
Israel had also condemned the move, saying the nomination of Vahidi revealed the “real nature” of the Iranian regime.
Earlier this week the Iranian parliament enthusiastically endorsed Vahidi, mainly as a response to what MPs called”Zionist propaganda” against him.
The spokesman said that accusations against Vahidi and other Iranian officials in the 1994 bombing had not been proven by the Argentine judiciary in the last 15 years.
“The US should not fall into the trap of world Zionismwhich itself is frontrunner of governmental terrorism, and correct their approach (towards Iran),” Ghashghavi added.
Fars news agency reported that visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is to meet Vahidi during his state visit to Tehran.
Fars quoted Vahidi as saying Sunday that the high vote by the parliament in his favour was a decisive blow against Israeli propaganda and psychological war against Iran.
Tehran has rejected the charges against Vahidi and condemned Argentina for what it called “blatant interference” in Iran’s internal affairs and accused the Argentine judiciary of being under pressure from the “Zionist lobby.”