Iran names main suspect of AMIA attack as new leader of its Revolutionary Guard

Iran has named Ahmad Vahidi as the new commander of the countrys Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps following the United States and Israel bombings in Tehran, which resulted in the death of several high-ranking officials. Vahidi is believed to be the mastermind behind the 1994 bombing of Jewish community center AMIA in Buenos Aires, and is wanted by Interpol. Iran is going through a leadership crisis after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Irans supreme leader since 1989, on Saturday. Several other government officials and 40 high-ranking commanders were also killed during the attacks over the weekend, and had to be replaced. The country is temporarily being run by a provisional governing council composed of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i and senior cleric Alireza Arafi. A new supreme leader is expected to be appointed this week by the Assembly of Experts, a panel made of 88 Shiite clerics. Among those killed during the bombings was Mohammad Pakpour, former leader of the Revolutionary Guard. He was replaced by Vahidi, who had been deputy commander of the force since late December. Vahidi was also temporarily appointed acting head of the Revolutionary Guard in mid-2025. Vahidi and the AMIA bombing Between 1989 and 1998 Vahidi was commander of the Quds Force, an elite unit within Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the main branch of the countrys armed forces. The Quds Force is responsible for conducting overseas military and intelligence operations As such, he is one of the main suspects of the AMIA attack that caused the death of 85 people in 1994. The Argentine judiciary believes that he was the intellectual author. Argentina declared the Quds force a terrorist organization in January. Iran said that the country would undoubtedly receive an appropriate response from Tehran for this. Vahidi was also interior minister between 2021-2024, and defense minister between 2009-2013, appointments which the Argentine state repudiated at the time. In June, when Vahidi was named temporary commander of the Revolutionary Guards, the Milei government described him as a military man with a history of terrorist operations. Vahidi has been subject to an Interpol red alert since 2007 for his alleged responsibility in the AMIA bombing.  In 2024, Interpol released a red notice calling worldwide law enforcement to arrest Vahidi at Argentinas request while he was on an official trip to visit Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The red notice meant that the countries could decide whether to arrest him. This, ultimately, did not happen, and Vahidi returned to Iran. The Interpol notice specified that Vahidi is wanted for aggravated murder and damages. In 2004, Argentina created a specialized prosecutors office dedicated to investigating the AMIA bombing, led by now-deceased Alberto Nisman. According to Nisman, Vahidi headed the decision-making panel that evaluated and approved the proposal to attack the community center. In June, federal Judge Daniel Rafecas ruled that an Argentine court would try ten Iranian and Lebanese fugitives accused of being involved with the AMIA bombing, including Vahidi, in a trial in absentia, a system that makes it possible to try and convict suspects even if they are fugitives. However, there have been few developments since. The Argentine judiciary has investigated allegations that the AMIA attack was orchestrated by the religious group Hezbollah with the backing of the Iranian government. However, this was never conclusively proven, and the investigation is still open. You may also be interested in: An Argentine tragedy explained: What was the AMIA terrorist attack?