Argentina to try 10 Iranians and Hezbollah official in absentia for deadly 1994 Jewish center bombing
By
Lucila Sigal
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community centre, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina July 18, 2024. REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas/File Photo
An Argentine judge on Thursday ordered that the 10 people accused of the deadliest bombing in the country's history face a trial in absentia, three decades after the attack on a Jewish community center that killed 85 people and wounded more than 150.
Argentine authorities have charged 10 people as perpetrators of the 1994 attack on the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires – including
former Iranian government officials
and others whom it says are members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Those accused include Iran's former intelligence minister Ali Fallahian, former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati, former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezaee, former ambassador to Argentina Hadi Soleimanpour and other embassy staff.
Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tehran has previously denied involvement and refused to turn over suspects.
People of Lebanese and Colombian nationality accused of being tied to Hezbollah are also among those accused.
The country's judiciary considers all defendants to be fugitives from the law, many since 2003. It argues the attack was carried out by Hezbollah with the backing of the Iranian government.
Judge Daniel Rafecas ordered the measure on the basis of a law that was passed in February this year that allows long-term fugitives to face trial in absentia.
Argentina is home to Latin America's largest Jewish community.
President Javier Milei
has been diplomatically supportive of the governments of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, both of whose long-standing feuds with Iran dramatically escalated this month.
A similar attack against the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 killed 22 people.
Reuters
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