Today: 18th Anniversary of Buenos Aires Terrorist Attack Bombing

A man walks over the rubble left after the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Argentina that killed 85 people 

On the 18th anniversary of the deadly bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, the presidents of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), Ronald S. Lauder, and the Latin American Jewish Congress (LAJC), Jack Terpins, have highlighted Iran’s suspected involvement in the 1994 terrorist attack.

Their statements were issued before the attack Wednesday at Burgas, which appears to be timed for that anniversary.

On July 18, 1994, a car bomb detonated outside the AMIA center in downtown Buenos Aires, killing 85 people and wounding several hundreds.

“It is now almost five years [since] Interpol issued Red Notices, calling for the arrest of several Iranian suspects in the case, one of them being none other than Iran’s current Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi,” Lauder said. “Tehran has so far failed to hand them over to the Argentinean judiciary. The Iranian regime has blood on its hands, not only by suppressing dissent at home but also by sponsoring terrorism world-wide.”

"What the world saw 18 years ago in Buenos Aires it can still see today, be it in Syria, in Lebanon or in other places. Iran’s is one of the principal state actors when it comes to spreading hatred and violence in the world,” Lauder added.

“It is lamentable that some nations, including in Latin America, are still fostering their relationship with Iran. We urge them: think again! What happened in Buenos Aires can happen again, anywhere, and governments have a responsibility to protect all their citizens against such heinous crimes,” said LAJC President Jack Terpins.

“Justice must be done if we want to avoid that such terrible acts happen again in the future,” he added.

National Director of the Anti-Defamation League Abraham H. Foxman said, “Eighteen years after the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina, which targeted the largest Jewish community in Latin America, justice for the hundreds of innocent victims remains elusive.”

“We renew our call to the Argentine government to apprehend the perpetrators of this heinous attack, including the Iranian and Hizbullah masterminds. As the threat of an Iranian nuclear regime becomes imminent, it is imperative that Argentina sends a message that terrorism and those who support it will not be tolerated,” added Foxman.