Top lawmakers query Interpol on Iran

The top foreign affairs Democrat and Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives asked Interpol why it seems to question Argentine warrants for Iranians. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), its ranking member, wrote Ronald Noble, Interpol�s secretary general, asking why his agency �appears to have taken the unusual step of undertaking its own review of the evidence,� according to a statement released Wednesday by the two congressional offices. Argentine officials issued arrest warrants in November for 11 Iranians and Lebanese allegedly involved in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community building in 1994 that killed 85 people and wounded 300. The role of Interpol, a clearinghouse for police forces worldwide, usually is limited to processing warrants, not taking an active role in the investigation. Iran previously threatened to pull out of Interpol if it pressed the matter. Lantos and Ros-Lehtinen said reports that Interpol had requested meetings with Iranian officials were troubling. "Now that Argentina has finally gotten to the bottom of this heinous crime, Interpol should be doing everything to see justice done, not delayed," Lantos said.