Argentina’s special prosecutor Alberto Nisman established that Iran orchestrated the attack, implicating several former Iranian officials, and that it was carried out by a Hezbollah suicide bomber.
NEW YORK— On July 18, 1994, a terrorist attack killed 85 people and injured more than 300 on the the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) Jewish Center in Buenos Aires.
The AMIA attack, although the deadliest terrorist incident in Latin American history, came on the heels of a similar bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires two years prior.
Both attacks have reportedly been carried out by Hezbollah terrorists, masterminded by Iran. But no one yet has been convicted of the bombing despite the fact that Argentina’s special prosecutor Alberto Nisman established that Iran orchestrated the attack, implicating several former Iranian officials, and that it was carried out by a Hezbollah suicide bomber. Iran was also implicated in the March 17, 1992 terrorist attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 and injured more than 200.
On Monday, the World Jewish Congress, the Permanent Mission of the Argentine Republic to the United Nations and the Jewish Community of Argentina held a special commemoration at the UN headquarters in New York to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1994 terrorist attack.
The commemoration was part of a series of more than 20 such events being held in major cities across the world, including Rome, London, Madrid, Geneva, Paris, Berlin, and Moscow, among others. The series of commemorations opened in Santiago on June 4, and will continue through July 18, culminating with an official ceremony in Buenos Aires.
Keynote speaker at the UN commemoration included Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship Jorge Faurie, said: “On the one hand we are keeping the memories of the victims alive, but we are also here to demand justice… the attack against AMIA was not only a strike against the Jewish community, but against the people of Argentina, freedom and democracy.” Argentina is committed to combating and eradicating hatred, the foreign minister said, adding, “we need to fight against antisemitism with tenacity.”