Defense Minister Ehud Barak slammedthe decision to appoint Ahmad Vahidi as the Iranian defense minister. Barak claimed that the decision "proves once again the nature of the regime in Iran andits leader's intentions."
A Defense Ministry statement read, "The entire world should study this case thoroughly and examine the intentions of the Iranian administration and its leader, who appoints a terrorist as a defense minister in its government."
Ahmad Vahidi, who commanded a unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard known as the Quds Force at the time of the attack, was nominated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Wednesday along with others to fill Cabinet positions. Vahidi is also wanted in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires in which 85 people were killed and 200 wounded.
Earlier on Saturday the Argentinean Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemningthe appointment, calling it an affront to Argentine justice and the victims of the terrorist attack on the Jewish community center.
The statement further read that news of the nomination was received with grave concern in Argentina.
Tehran brushed aside the criticism as part of a "Zionist plot", as Ahmadinejad press adviser Ali Akbar Javanfekr wondered why the Argentineans didn't bring up the matter in the past.
US officials also reacted with concern. "If this report is true and if this man is confirmed as a cabinet minister and is wanted by Interpol for his involvement in a terrorist act, of course this would be disturbing," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.