March 13, 2013
U.S. senators Kirk and Gillibrand decry Argentina-Iran commission
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Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires on Feb. 27. Photo by Marcos Brindicci/Reuters
Two U.S. senators asked the president of Argentina to end her country’s agreement with Iran to establish a “truth commission” on the 1994 bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish community center.
Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) sent a letter Monday to Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner expressing their “grave concern” over the joint commission to investigate the July 18, 1994 bombing of the AMIA center, which killed 85 and injured 300.
The senators fear the joint panel, which allows independent judges to interview suspects, will downgrade the incident and “lead to the dismissal of charges and the whitewashing of this heinous crime,” they wrote.
“The truth in this matter has already been meticulously established in Argentine courts,” according to Kirk and Gillibrand.
In 2006, an Argentinian court prosecuting the matter indicted eight senior Iranian officials with ties to the Hezbollah terror group. Six Iranians have been on the Interpol international police agency's most wanted list since 2007 in connection with the bombing, including the current defense minister, Gen. Ahmed Vahidi.
Argentina's Congress has passed the memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries.
