Argentina orders arrest warrant for ex-Iran leader

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Nov 9 (Reuters) An Argentine judge ordered international arrest warrants today for former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and eight others in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center.

The warrants, handed down by Federal Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral, came after Argentine prosecutors accused the Iranian government of masterminding the attack that killed 85 people and wounded more than 200 others.

Tehran has repeatedly denied involvement.

On July 18, 1994, a truck laden with explosives leveled the the seven-story Argentine Israeli Mutual Association building, a symbol of the country's Jewish community -- Latin America's largest.

No one has been convicted of carrying out the attack despite a lengthy probe beset by irregularities.

But Argentine, Israeli and US officials have long blamed the bombing on Hezbollah guerrillas backed by Iran.

Rafsanjani was Iran's president from 1989 to 1997.

Reuters AB GC2328