Miami Herald.
Eighteen years ago, on July 18, 1994, Hezbollah carried out an attack against the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires. But Hezbollah was not acting alone. It is now clear that the highest ranks of the Iranian regime masterminded this attack in the Western Hemisphere.
Eighteen years ago, on July 18, 1994, Hezbollah carried out an attack against the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires. But Hezbollah was not acting alone. It is now clear that the highest ranks of the Iranian regime masterminded this attack in the Western Hemisphere.
In the years since the attack, the state prosecutor of Argentina has
concluded that the AMIA attack was approved in advance by Iran’s Ayatollah,
Iran’s then-Foreign Minister, and Iran’s then-Minister of Security and
Intelligence. In November 2006, an Argentine judge issued arrest warrants for
eight Iranian officials and one Lebanese Hezbollah operative. The following
year, INTERPOL unanimously supported the issuance of what they term “red
notices” for six of those wanted by Argentina, allowing arrest warrants for
these individuals to be circulated worldwide with an eye to their arrest and
extradition.
The depth and scope of Iranian activities in the region, and those of its
proxies such as Hezbollah, has only increased in the 18 years since.
In the past decade, Iran has almost doubled its diplomatic presence in the
Western Hemisphere by opening a series of new embassies in Bolivia, Ecuador,
Nicaragua, Colombia, Chile, and Uruguay. The AMIA attack shed light on the true
nature of the Iranian regime’s “diplomatic missions” and revealed the active
role its embassy in Buenos Aires played in partnering with Hezbollah. Former
U.S. intelligence officials have testified before Congress that Iran also uses
its embassies as cover for nefarious activities, including harboring operatives
of the Qods Force, an arm of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Texto completo: Western Hemisphere Security Cooperation Act of 2012.
