Arrest Warrant Issued for Former Argentine President Over 'Collusion with Iran'

A judge in Argentina has issued an arrest warrant for Cristina Kirchner, the former president of the country, in connection with the case of Iran's involvement in the 1994 bombing in Argentina. However, she has denied the allegations. According to the German news agency, Claudio Bonadio, a federal judge in Argentina, announced on Thursday, December 7, that Kirchner's parliamentary immunity has also been revoked. The Argentine court has implicated the Islamic Republic of Iran in the 1994 bombing at the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, known as AMIA, which left 85 dead, stating that Kirchner played a role in 'concealing' Iran's involvement in the incident. Cristina Fernández Kirchner served as Argentina's president from 2007 to 2015 and is currently a senator in the country. The new court ruling strips Kirchner of her judicial immunity. Kirchner has rejected the accusations against her and describes the charge of collusion to 'conceal' Iran's connection to the bombing as 'nonsense.' The AMIA case was opened over two decades ago, at which time the Lebanese Hezbollah group was accused of carrying out the bombing and Iran of orchestrating it. Tehran is the main supporter of Hezbollah. Among the Iranian officials for whom arrest warrants have been issued by Interpol in connection with this case are Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the then-president, Ali Fallahian, the minister of intelligence, Ali Akbar Velayati, the foreign minister, and Mohsen Rezaei, the then-commander of the Revolutionary Guards. This case, which has seen many ups and downs, entered a new phase two years ago with the discovery of the body of Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor of the AMIA case, in his apartment. Investigations conducted by Nisman indicated that the Argentine government intended to 'cover up' the Islamic Republic's role in this case in exchange for receiving oil from Iran in 2014. In the days before his death, Nisman had accused Kirchner of colluding with the Islamic Republic of Iran to cover up the investigation into the 1994 bombing and was preparing an arrest warrant for her. However, the Argentine Supreme Court declared the case against Kirchner 'closed' and deemed her 'exonerated' in this matter. Iran also firmly denies the allegations of involvement and planning in the AMIA bombing. Nevertheless, Israel has consistently accused Iran of involvement and planning in the AMIA bombing. In this context, the former president of Argentina rejected the accusation of covering up for Iran in the AMIA case. The court proceedings regarding the bombing at the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires have begun. Iran has called Netanyahu's statements regarding the Argentine bombings 'baseless.' Netanyahu referred to Iran as a 'systematic aggressor' during the AMIA ceremony.