RIYADH: In January 2015, Alberto Nisman, prosecutor of the Republic of Argentina, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head at his home in Buenos Aires. The discovery of the body came hours before Nisman described allegations against a former president covering up Iran’s involvement in two deadly terrorist attacks on Argentine soil.

Nisman had accused Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of having concealed Tehran’s role in preserving relations between the countries. The prosecutor had previously suggested that the attack was likely linked to a decision to end Argentina’s cooperation with Iran’s nuclear program.

The circumstances of Nisman’s death have never been explained. A new report from the Arab News Research and Studies unit, the third in its “Iran in Latin America” ​​series, examines the continuing decline in the Iran-Argentina relationship – and its possible resuscitation.

After a period of nuclear cooperation that began in the mid-1980s, relations were delayed by the bombings in Buenos Aires in the early 1990s during the time of President Carlos Menem, in power from 1989 to 1999.

These bombings, the first on the Israeli Embassy in 1992 and the second on the Israelite Mutual Association of Argentina (AMIA) in 1994, destroyed what was previously a close and mutually beneficial relationship between two powers of medium size.

Read the full report on Arab News Research & Studies by clicking on here

To understand how these events developed and the effect they had on the nature of bilateral relations, it is necessary to analyze the historical context and the role of the main party involved in the implementation of these terrorist operations. .

Iran has supported Hezbollah since the movement’s inception in Lebanon in 1985 and has worked to expand its network across five continents.

Hezbollah began operations in Latin America in the early 1990s, using the region’s lucrative illegal economy as a base to launch terrorist attacks. In particular, he was able to exploit anarchy in the region of the three borders where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay converge.

The region has a large Muslim population that Hezbollah has exploited directly or that its agents have used as cover. Brazil and Argentina are home to around 5 million people of Arab descent, including prominent figures such as Carlos Menem himself.

In Argentina, Hezbollah has identified two Israeli / Jewish sites as targets. The first attack, on March 17, 1992, was on the Israeli Embassy, ​​which was hit by a car bomb that killed 29 people and injured hundreds.

On July 8, 1994, a second bomb exploded at the Jewish community center AMIA, killing 85 people and injuring hundreds.

Numerous sources identify the Tehran regime as the prime suspect behind the two attacks. This includes US authorities who have shared suspicions about Hezbollah and Iran’s involvement for years.

Religious organizations affiliated with Hezbollah in Argentina – namely the Association of Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Society of Argentina – claimed responsibility for the attack on the embassy, ​​claiming it was in response to the assassination of the former Hezbollah leader Abbas Al-Musawi and members of his family by Israel. in February 1992.

There is evidence to suggest that Iran and Syria were also involved. According to the testimony of Abu Al-Qasim Mesbahi, an Iranian defector who worked for the country’s intelligence services, the idea of ​​carrying out an attack in Argentina was a fundamental part of Tehran’s plans to export the Iranian revolution to others. country.

Mesbahi said the AMIA attack was planned at a meeting in Mashhad, Iran, in August 1993, attended by senior Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei; President Hashemi Rafsanjani; Intelligence Minister Ali Fuleihan; Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati; and Mohsen Rabbani, who was later appointed cultural attaché at the Iranian embassy in Argentina.

In 2004, while Nestor Kirchner was president, Argentine authorities appointed Nisman as special prosecutor to investigate the AMIA bombing, including Iran’s role. He partially succeeded. In 2007, relations between Argentina and Iran deteriorated when the Argentine authorities obtained arrest warrants from Interpol against five Iranians suspected of being involved in the attack.

Read the full report on Arab News Research & Studies by clicking on here

Although Kirchner sought justice in the case while in office, the investigation was neglected for a number of years after his resignation in 2007, and in particular, while his wife, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner , was president from 2007 to 2015.

Argentina’s Congress for years passed resolutions calling for justice for the victims of the AMIA attack and demanding that Iran be held accountable. When President Mauricio Macri was in power, from 2015 to 2019, the government reinstated what had become a tough policy on Iran. Last year, Argentina’s current president, Alberto Fernandez, told Jewish leaders he wanted to complete a decades-long court case that followed the attack.

The resolution of the case, however, was complicated by allegations of corruption and the alleged assassination of Nisman.

Nuclear cooperation has long been the basis of relations between Argentina and Iran. Argentina’s nuclear ambitions shifted from unilateral activities in the 1970s and 1980s to bilateral and multilateral commitments in the 1990s and beyond. Even before becoming the first Latin American country to use nuclear energy, in 1974, it defended the right of nations to use nuclear development as a tool for peace.

Read the full report on Arab News Research & Studies by clicking here

Argentina’s efforts to advance its own nuclear research and development included establishing cooperation agreements and mechanisms with a number of countries, including Brazil, Australia and the Caribbean countries.

International cooperation also included joint projects with Iran in the 1980s. In 1967, the United States provided Iran with a nuclear research reactor built in Tehran. However, Washington stopped the export of enriched uranium necessary for its food after the Iranian revolution of 1979.

On the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranians have requested Argentina’s help to revive and expand its nuclear program, and complete work on a large-scale nuclear power plant under construction near the southern port of Bushehr .

On May 5, 1987, the Argentine company INVAP signed an agreement worth $ 5.5 million with the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization to provide Tehran with a new core for the research reactor donated to the Center. nuclear research in Tehran by the Americans 20 years earlier. In 1992, however, nuclear cooperation was suspended following the attack on the Israeli embassy.

Read the full report on Arab News Research & Studies by clicking on here

Since 1994 Argentina has openly criticized Iran’s nuclear program and all trade in nuclear resources has ceased. Nonetheless, Iran is still interested in expanding its cooperation with Argentina. In February 2008, the idea of ​​resuming the supply of nuclear fuel to Argentina was raised.

However, during his investigation of the 1992 and 1994 attacks, Nisman suggested that the attacks were likely related to the president’s decision to stop Argentina’s cooperation with Iran’s nuclear program.

In 2011, U.S. Congressional leaders called on the State Department to investigate whether Iran and Argentina had renewed nuclear cooperation under a deal negotiated and funded by Venezuela. Some reports claimed that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, then president of Iran, called on authorities in Venezuela to intervene to persuade Argentina to share the technology with Tehran and help with its nuclear program.

Under the presidency of Fernandez de Kirchner, diplomatic relations between Iran and Argentina have been strengthened. Hugo Chavez, then president of Venezuela, allegedly organized talks between Tehran and Buenos Aires.

As successive governments have come and gone, Argentina has waited for substantial cooperation from Iran to resolve what happened in the bombings. Identifying those responsible, as well as their supporters, and bringing them to justice is an essential objective of Argentina’s foreign policy. Such a result could constitute an element of a political rapprochement with Iran. If the problem is not resolved, however, it will continue to disturb relationships.

• Dr Hamdan Al-Shehri is a political analyst and specialist in international relations. Twitter: @ drhamsher7