‘Majlis must ratify AMIA agreement’

A recent agreement between Iran and Argentina to set up a “truth commission” to investigate the 1994 AMIA Jewish center bombing must be presented as a bill to be ratified by the Iranian parliament (Majlis), says the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister.

“The agreement between Iran and Argentina on the AMIA case should be drawn up as a bill and presented to Majlis [for final ratification],” Hassan Qashqavi said on Sunday.

On January 27, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and his Argentinean counterpart, Hector Timerman, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to shed light on the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires which left 85 people dead.

AMIA stands for the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina or the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association.

Argentina’s Senate on February 21 gave the green light for the agreement with Iran on the AMIA case with the senators voting 39-31 in favor of the MoU.

Argentinean lawmakers later signed the agreement into law after a 14-hour session with 131 ayes against 113 nays.

Meanwhile, spokesman for Iran Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini also stressed that the deal requires parliamentary approval.

Based on the Constitution, Majlis must ratify all Iran’s agreements, accords and memoranda of understanding with other countries, he said.

Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Timerman have endorsed the agreement, which stipulates that the fact-finding commission, composed of five foreign legal experts, should issue a report after carrying out an evaluation of Argentina’s investigation into the issue.

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