President Javier Milei lashed out at Iran and reiterated his support for the United States and Israel on Tuesday, as he marked 34 years since the deadly bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires – an attack Argentina blames on Tehran.
“There can be no truce with terrorism,” Milei said during a ceremony in a Buenos Aires square built over the ruins of the former diplomatic headquarters.
“We are making clear where we stand at this historical moment, in which the United States and Israel have decided to bring an end to the Iranian regime – a tyranny that not only holds its own population captive, but has spent decades spreading terror,” he added, referencing the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Accompanied by Buenos Aires City Mayor Jorge Macri, Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni and Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei, Milei said Argentina must “remember” what he described as “the cowardly attack of Iranian terrorism.”
“It is a wound in the Argentine people, in the Jewish community and in the moral foundations of our society,” he added.
Milei also said the country is “confronting terrorism” and described Israel as “a sister nation that shares the same values as ours.”
“Argentina fights terrorism and we defend freedom. Israel is a strategic ally of our country and, for that reason, we reaffirm our commitment because we believe it is the right thing to do. We place morality at the heart of state policy,” he said.
The President stressed that “the attack left an indelible wound on Argentine soil and in the Jewish community, as it struck at the moral foundations of our society.”
On March 17, 1992, a van packed with explosives rammed into the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people and injuring more than 200.
Two years later, another attack on the AMIA Jewish community centre killed 85 people.
Argentina’s courts attribute both attacks to Iran and the Shiite group Hezbollah.
Argentina’s Jewish community is estimated at around 300,000 people, the largest in Latin America.
‘Terrorist acts’
Israel’s Ambassador Eyal Sela said the late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei would “no longer be able to organise terrorist acts,” speaking in the square adorned with white funeral wreaths.
The ceremony, commemorating the attack – which left 29 dead, of which only 22 were officially identified – took place at the site of the former embassy in the Retiro neighbourhood.
Around 100 people attended the ceremony amid torrential rain. Behind the stage, an image of the embassy’s ruins was projected, with the remains of the building visible in the background.
In his speech, Milei – a fierce supporter of Israel – reiterated his commitment to “Western values,” “morality as state policy” and “the fight against the scourge of anti-Semitism.”
“Israel is a strategic ally of our country; we are united by shared values,” he continued.
The President has described Iran as his “enemy” on several occasions.
He said “terrorism is a threat that demands political resolve, institutional consistency and a commitment that does not fade over time.”
In that context, he noted that Argentina is “promoting new legal tools to advance the prosecution of those responsible for these crimes, even when they seek to evade justice.”
“We honour those who lost their lives in these attacks and stand with their families, who for more than three decades have carried out a dignified and tireless search for justice,” the President concluded.
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a coordinated wave of strikes against Iran, to which Tehran responded by bombing much of its neighbourhood and imposing an almost total blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, threatening global oil flows.
Argentina’s government responded by raising its security alert level. A month earlier, it had added the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to its registry of “terrorist” individuals and organisations.
Argentine courts are pursuing a trial in absentia against 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals over the AMIA case, while the investigation into the embassy bombing remains open.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
Comments