It has been thirty years since the terrorist attack on the center of the Argentine Jewish Community in Buenos Aires. It was the deadliest attack in Latin American history, when a driver, on a suicide mission, drove a truck full of explosives into the building of the Argentine Jewish Association (AMIA: Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina). The tragic toll: 85 dead and more than 300 injured. At the time, the Argentine Jewish Community had approximately 200.000 members, making it the largest Community in Latin America. The tragic incident occurred two years after the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, which left 29 dead and for which the Argentine government blamed Iran.
By Dorella Kamhi *
Two trials were held. The first aimed to find the guilty but failed due to corruption and power struggles between politicians and judges.
In 2003, the first judge to take on the case officially declared that Hezbollah and "radical elements of the Iranian government" had planned and carried out the attack.
In 2005, prosecutor Alberto Nisman took over the case and led a special unit to investigate the bombing and the subsequent judicial cover-up. In 2006, he requested the arrest of the President of Iran, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 6 Iranian officials and the leader of Hezbollah. An international arrest warrant was issued against them as they were considered the masterminds of the terrorist attack. The Iranian government denied any involvement in the attack and did not extradite the people wanted for trial in Argentina.
On January 18, 2015, Nisman was found dead, under unclear circumstances, in his apartment, four days after he had accused the then President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez, of covering up the Iranians involved in the attack and one day before testifying in the Argentine Congress.
Although forensic investigators have found enough evidence, both in Argentina and other countries, to prove that the Iranian government planned, ordered and financed the terrorist attack carried out by Hezbollah, and despite Interpol red alerts, the case remains unsolved. and no one has claimed responsibility and been convicted so far.
Hezbollah, fueled by Iran, continues to commit horrific crimes around the world. In 2012, they struck on European soil, in a bombing attack in Burgas, Bulgaria, on a bus carrying Israeli tourists. The attack killed 6 people, including the Bulgarian bus driver, and injured 32. The Bulgarian government, after investigations, pointed to Hezbollah as behind the deadly terrorist attack. The attack was planned by two of its members who had entered Bulgaria a month earlier with false passports. Hezbollah's attack in Burgas was condemned internationally.
In July 2019, Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Honduras and Guatemala officially designated the Iranian extremist group Hezbollah, which means “Party of God (Allah)”, as a terrorist organization. Other countries that have designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in its entirety, both in its military and political wings, are: the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Bahrain, Canada and Israel. The European Union has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization but only in its military and not in its political wing, which is a huge mistake, as in practice these two wings work together to promote their terrorist agenda.
Since October 7, 2023, Hezbollah, supporting Hamas's offensive, has fired over 5.000 rockets into Israel, endangering the civilian population of Israel as well as the citizens of Lebanon themselves, using them as human shields.
Iran, therefore, as the matrix of terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah and Hamas, does not only target Israel and the Jews, as the victims of the attacks it launches worldwide are not only Jews, but it is a threat to any country it respects and honors freedom and democracy, including Greece.
* Dorella Camhi is a member of the Diplomatic Corps of the World Jewish Congress
SOURCE: THE PRESIDENT, 18.7.2025