(COLOMBO) – The recent visit by the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Sri Lanka was not without incident as enraged local motorists honked their horns in protest of unannounced road closures and Tehran reacted angrily to a request made by Interpol to arrest their country’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi wanted in connection with the alleged bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires in 1994 that left 85 people dead.
Thousands of motorists were left stranded through peak traffic hours after several key roads in the Metropolis were closed without warning, as a security precautionary measure in order to allow the Iranian VIP motorcade to pass through.
The authorities had however announced the closure of certain roads during the one-day stopover of the Iranian delegation in the island-nation.
The roads were closed to facilitate the movement of the Iranian convoy without any prior notice as a security measure, but the motorists’ protest amounts to kind of an embarrassment for the Government during the visit of a friendly country that has stood by Sri Lanka during its trying times.
Iran and Sri Lanka have enjoyed excellent ties for decades and cooperated with each other in numerous international forums.
The Iranian President was in the country to inaugurate the opening of a gigantic irrigation scheme in the south-east of the island that was partly funded by Tehran.
Meanwhile Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry officials were caught unaware after Argentina and Interpol had requested Colombo to arrest Vahidi who was reportedly accompanying the Iranian President Dr. Ebrahim Raisi on the State visit.
Foreign Ministry officials conceded that such a request could not be heeded owing to the sensitivity of the issue on one hand and on the other they said that Vahidi’s name was not listed on the Iranian delegation.
Teheran vehemently refuted the allegations and called on Argentina to verify facts prior to making such allegations, while weighing the close relations between the two countries.
