Iranians Rally Behind Ex-Diplomat

Reformist and hard-line factions have closed ranks in demanding the release of a former Iranian diplomat accused of murder in connection with the bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina.

British police arrested Hadi Soleimanpour, Iran’s former ambassador to Argentina, last week. He is being held pending a decision on whether he is to be extradited to Buenos Aires to face charges in the deaths of 85 people in the 1994 attack.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami called Monday on Britain to release Soleimanpour and demanded an apology for what he called an “incorrect” and “politically motivated deed.” Hard-line newspapers called for the expulsion of the British ambassador.

“This case doesn’t originate in Argentina,” said Saeed Laylaz, a political analyst with close ties to prominent reformists. “It’s part of an international campaign to pressure Iran.”

In addition to uniting the usually contentious Iranian factions, the dispute could lead to one of the deepest estrangements in Iranian-British relations since Iran’s rejection of Britain’s ambassadorial nominee last year. With Britain discreetly advocating engagement with Iran to a Bush administration that has branded Iran part of an “axis of evil,” a breakdown in relations could dramatically increase the pressure from Washington, which is worried about Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran broke off economic and cultural ties with Argentina over the weekend and has twice summoned the British charge d’affaires in Tehran, Matthew Gould, since Soleimanpour’s arrest.

“The arrest has nothing to do with politics,” Gould said. “A British court issued an arrest warrant based on the basis of an Interpol notice. The British government was not involved.”

But Tehran is convinced the arrest is an attempt to coerce admission of its terrorist past, much as Libya has recently been pressed to admit its role in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland.

“The basic problem is the gulf in perception,” said a Western diplomat in Tehran.

“The British are saying this is not political, but the Iranians don’t believe them. They are certain the British government could get Soleimanpour out if it chose to.”

Soleimanpour is one of eight Iranians for whom an Argentine judge issued an extradition warrant last week. He was studying at a university in Durham, England, and will remain in custody until the British court rules on his extradition.