BUENOS AIRES (JTA) — At a commemoration for the victims of a 1992 terrorist attack against the Israeli embassy in Argentina, officials from that country’s new government said they were committed to investigating that attack and another one attributed to Iran and Hezbollah.
Argentine Vice President Gabriela Michetti cited the presence of high-ranking officials at Thursday’s commemoration of the embassy bombing, which killed 29 people and injured 242, as proof of the seriousness of her government, which took office in December, to reveal who was behind the attack.
“This very presence of a high-level delegation is a gesture that bears witness of our commitment,” Michetti said at the event, which was attended by more than 400 World Jewish Congress delegates from 67 countries.
“If the judiciary takes on its commitment, and we the executive implement all the mechanisms to assist in the cause,” Michetti said, “it is possible to heal the wounds of the past.”
Michetti’s statements follow months of discord over the previous government’s decision to cooperate with Iran in the investigation of the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people.
Western intelligence agencies and Argentina’s own judiciary blamed Iran for both attacks, though the Islamic Republic denied involvement. The new government in December ended the joint probe with Iran, which Jewish groups alleged had no chance of leading to substantial revelations given evidence suggesting Iranian complicity.
Also present at the event were Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra and her counterparts at the ministries of justice and internal affairs.
Maximiliano Lancieri Duran, whose father was killed in the 1992 attack, criticized authorities for having “zero interest” in getting to the bottom of the attacks.
The WJC delegation attending the events was in Argentina for the organization’s special plenary assembly in conjunction with a meeting of the WJC Executive Committee.
