Argentine president backs agreement with Iran on AMIA bombing

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has defended an agreement with Iran to establish a “truth commission” to investigate the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

“What I want to avoid … is the pain of the (victims’) families and the country’s shame by finding the path to break the deadlock,” Fernandez said in a speech on Thursday.

“The memorandum of understanding we have signed is a step toward unblocking a case that has been paralyzed for 19 years. Dialogue is a part of Argentina’s foreign policy,” she added, refuting criticism over the accord.

On January 27, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and his Argentinean counterpart signed a memorandum of understanding for the two countries to shed light on the 1994 bombing on the AMIA building in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. AMIA stands for the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina or the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association.

Fernandez further said she has sent a bill to Congress for the approval of the accord, which envisions the formation of a five-member “truth commission” of international legal specialists.

Under intense political pressure imposed by the US and Israel, Argentina had formally accused Iran of having carried out the bombing attack. The Islamic Republic has categorically denied any involvement in the terrorist bombing.

The Israeli regime reacted angrily to the deal a day after it was signed. “We are stunned by this news item and we will want to receive from the Argentine government a complete picture as to what was agreed upon because this entire affair affects Israel directly,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Yigal Palmor, said on January 28.

In a statement on January 30, however, the Argentinean foreign ministry said Israel’s demand for explanation over the agreement, described by Fernandez as “historic,” was an “improper action that is strongly rejected.”