The explosion, carried out by Iranian and Lebanese Sh’ia member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah organisation was the worst terrorist attack on Argentine soil, after another one, also attributed to the Iranians, rocked out the Israeli embassy in the Argentinean capital two years before, killing 29 people and living another 200 hurt. Authorities have never solved that crime.

The warrant includes Hojjatolelslam Ali Fallahian, Iran's Intelligence Minister under former president Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani; the former cultural attaché at the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires, Hojjatoleslam Moshen Rabbani; Ali Akbar Parvaresh, a former official and Foreign Ministry diplomatic post official Barat Ali Balesh Abadi, originally a Lebanese.

Iran, which is a major importer of wheat from Argentina, has repeatedly denied any involvement in the explosions and has instead accused the Israeli and American governments to be behind the allegations in order to give an ugly visage to the Islamic Republic.

The intelligence report, not yet public, according to the media reports named Iranian government officials and leaders of Hezbollah whom the intelligence report concludes gave the order to blow up the building housing the headquarters of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) charities umbrella group, on a busy downtown street.

If any of the suspects is detained abroad and sent to Argentina, the Judge would question him and could decide to try him, acquit him or declare the charges without merit.

Galeano moved on the arrest warrant at the urging of prosecutors Jose Barbaccia and Alberto Nisman, who requested the detention of 17 suspects based on Argentine intelligence service reports, the French news agency AFP quoted court sources.

The intelligence reports found that in the days prior to the attack, there was an unusual movement of Iranian diplomats in and out of Argentina and that there were also many phone calls made between Buenos Aires, Iranian government offices and numbers in the Paraguayan city of Ciudad del Este, on the Brazilian and Argentine borders, which has a large Arab community, including Shi’a, most of them members of the Hezbollah.

In January local media reported that Argentina's intelligence service would report to authorities that Iran and the Lebanese militant Shiite group Hezbollah masterminded the 1994 bombing of the AMIA.

Argentina has one of the largest Jewish communities in the Americas, estimated at around 300,000.

The intelligence report marked the first time an official body drew a conclusion on the international leads in the worst terrorist attack in Argentina's history -- now almost nine years on.

The intelligence briefing also concludes the explosives used in the blast were brought into through the triple border area shared by Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, frequently named as an area where fundraising for Islamist militants takes place and where sleeper cells allegedly may be in place, the media reports said.

The report Galeano received also alleges Rabbani was the operational chief of the attack, which Tehran always has denied, media reports here have said.

Both blasts took place during the government of former president Carlos Menem, a son of Syrian immigrants, who was in power from 1989-1999.

Menem denied the allegations against him, saying they were a bid to hurt him politically as he sought re-election.

Menem, who faced a swirl of corruption allegations and spent time under house arrest in 2001 for allowing illegal international arms sales, has said he does have a Swiss bank account. But he says it is a 1986 deposit of money the state paid him as a former political prisoner during the 1976-1983 military dictatorships. ENDS IRAN ARGENTINE EXPLOSION 8303