A court in Argentina ruled yesterday (Thursday) that Iran and Hezbollah are responsible for the deadly attacks against the Jewish community in the 1990s - this was reported by the country's local media, which cited the ruling that described Iran as a "terrorist state".
The judges ruled that Iran ordered the attack against the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992, in which 29 people were killed, and against the Jewish community structure (AMIA) two years later, in which 85 people were killed and 300 others were injured.
The AMIA attack, which was the deadliest in Argentina's history, was defined as a "crime against humanity."
"Hezbollah carried out an operation that responded to political, ideological and revolutionary planning under the mandate of a government, of a country," Carlos Mahix, one of the three judges who ruled on the decision, said in an interview to a local radio station, referring to Iran.
Argentina and Israel have long estimated that Tehran and the Lebanese Shiite organization it supports are behind the murderous attacks, and the judges yesterday placed the responsibility on then Iranian President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani and other senior Iranian officials and Hezbollah members. Tehran, for its part, denies any involvement.
The Jewish community in Argentina, the largest in Latin America, welcomed the decision. Jorge Knoblovitz, one of its leaders, said in a radio interview that this ruling is "very important, because it allows the victims to approach the International Criminal Court."
Over the years, senior Argentine officials have also been prosecuted for covering up Iranian involvement in the attacks and obstructing an investigation.
The president at the time of the two attacks, Carlos Menam - who died in 2021 - stood trial for covering up the AMIA attack, but was eventually acquitted. His head of intelligence, Hugo Anzurgai, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for his part in obstructing the investigation. Another senior official who was accused was Judge Juan Jose Galano, who investigated the attacks and in 2019 was imprisoned for six years for hiding and tampering with evidence.
About 300,000 Jews live in Argentina, in addition to large immigrant communities from the Middle East, especially from Syria and Lebanon.