The Tehran Times, a mouthpiece for the Iranian government, threatened its Argentine counterpart during the 30th anniversary of the AMIA bombing, the largest terrorist attack against a Jewish community since the Holocaust until Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel. Former Iranian officials are the main suspects in the attack, for which there are no convictions three decades on.
An article titled "AMIA case on the eve of its 30th anniversary," highlights a recent decision by the Javier Milei administration to declare Hamas a terrorist organization and recalls that his office "reiterated its baseless assertion about Iran's involvement in the attacks to the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires and to the AMIA Argentine-Israeli Association."
The developments, the article continues, puts the countries "at the threshold of a new incident after three decades of ambiguity and deviation in a criminal case." It goes on to say that experts consulted by the Iranian government determined the bombing was "Jewish self-harm" or "revenge and punishment of Carlos Menem's government against Argentine Zionists."
The article also claims that throughout 30 years of investigations "no technical investigation process had come to a reliable result by the police". While the case has not yielded convictions and had many different officials take the lead over the decades, the country's highest criminal court determined in April that both the AMIA attack and another one against the Israeli embassy in Argentina two years prior were ordered by Iran and carried out by Hezbollah.
The ruling also concluded that the AMIA bombing, in which 85 people were killed and over 300 injured, was a crime against humanity, opening the door for Argentina to formally press charges against Iran in international criminal courts.
The Tehran Times piece does not make reference to the latest ruling, but does conclude with an overarching threat against the country. "Without a doubt, Tehran will not forget Buenos Aires' anti-Iranian policy, but Iran has proven that it does not play easily in the enemy's chessboard, but at the right time and position, it will impose its own game to the enemy and will make it feel sorry for its enmity towards Iran," it concludes.
Regardless of the threats, an official commemoration event took place at the AMIA building on Thursday in Argentina. President Milei attended and was joined by his vice president and most of his cabinet, as well as the presidents of Uruguay and Paraguay and Jewish officials from around the world.
"30 years without anyone being held accountable for the attack, 30 years in which the Argentine state has overlooked this," said current AMIA president Amos Linetzky during the event. He also recognized the decision to declare Hamas a terrorist organization and said they are "firm and united over the commitment to truth memory and justice." "We will win because we know that only through justice we can be the owners of peace," he concluded.
Argentine Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos also reacted to the article, saying President Milei "won't be deterred" by the threats. "That piece won't make a dent in his stances," he said in a radio interview. Similar comments were echoed by Vice President Victoria Villaruel.
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