On Thursday, an Argentine court placed the blame on 'terrorist state' Iran over three decades after deadly attacks in Buenos Aires that targeted Israel's embassy and a Jewish center.
According to court records cited by media outlets, the court also named the Argentina Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish center attack the bloodiest in Argentina's history, a "crime against humanity."
The court said that it is linked to the Iran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah.
Carlos Mahiques, one of the three judges who issued the sentence, said to Radio Con Vos that Hezbollah carried out an operation that responded to a political, ideological, and revolutionary design under the mandate of a government of a State, referring to Iran.
A bombing on the Israeli embassy in 1992 claimed 29 lives. Two years later, the AMIA Jewish center was hit by a truck loaded with explosives and detonated, leaving 85 dead and 300 injured.
The 1994 attack has never been officially claimed or solved. However, Argentina and Israel have long suspected Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group carried it out at Iran's demand.
Prosecutors accused top Iranian authorities of ordering the attack. Tehran has denied any participation.
Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America, with almost 300,000 people. It is also home to immigrant communities from the Middle East, including Syria and Lebanon.
The justices declared on Thursday that the AMIA attack included a crime against humanity and held Hezbollah members, other Iranian authorities, and the country's then-president Ali Akbar Hashemi Bahramaie Rafsanjani responsible.
Jorge Knoblovits, president of the Delegation of Israelite Associations of Argentina (DAIA), praised the decision. He told Radio Mitre that the decision was very important because it enabled the victims to go to the International Criminal Court.
Carlos Menem, the former president of Argentina who passed away in 2021 and was in office for both attacks, was tried for allegedly covering up the AMIA bombing but was found not guilty.
