A file photo for Soleimanpur

LONDON, August 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A British court on Friday, August 22, remanded the former Iranian ambassador to Argentina in custody after a request by Buenos Aires to extradite him over a 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in the country, with Tehran charging that "Zionist influence" was behind the British move.

A Scotland Yard detective told a court in London that Argentina alleged that Hadi Soleimanpur was involved in planning and commissioning the bombing nine years ago, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Soleimanpur, 47, made no comment as the charge was read to him. But the detective said he had told officers the allegation was "false" when it was put to him during his arrest on Thursday, August 21.

He was remanded in custody until August 29, when he is to reappear before the London court when the Argentine government will also be represented.

The judge refused to grant Suleimanpur's request for bail, saying there were "substantial risks" that he would fail to return to court.

The former top foreign affairs diplomat has been in Britain on a student visa since February last year.

He had enrolled at Durham University, where he was following an environment studies course, as an "ordinary student", and did not receive a scholarship from the Iranian government.

'Zionist Influence'

Tehran reacted angrily to the arrest of its former envoy, saying international warrants issued by a Buenos Aires court over the bombing were illegal.

"Argentina should be held politically and legally responsible for this action, which is not in line with international rules," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told AFP.

"The Argentine court decision (to issue a warrant) is a political measure with political incentives under the influence of the Zionist regime in order to do it a service," he charged.

Soleimanpur's lawyer Michel Massih told the court: "He has always publicly and strenuously denied these allegations."

"There is a political vendetta here and political points being scored against the country and against him," he asserted.

Massih said the Argentinean attempt to extradite Soleimanpur was a bid to "flex apparent muscle."

The extradition warrant for Soleimanpour was one of eight issued by an Argentine judge, Juan Jose Galeano, against Iranian citizens last week to be arrested on claims they plotted the July 1994 bombing of the Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association building, which killed 85 and wounded 300 others, the BBC News Online reported.

Similar warrants issued in March against four Iranian diplomats caused tension between Buenos Aires and Tehran, and resulted in the recall of the Iranian ambassador.

The British move came amid mounting accusations by Britain and the United States against Tehran for "harboring terrorism" and pursuing "nuclear weapons program," charges repudiated by the Iranian government.