Agence France Presse – The White House on Saturday lauded Argentina’s effort to prosecute its deadliest terror attack, and slammed Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism.
An Argentine judge issued an international arrest warrant Thursday for former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and other top officials over "crimes against humanity" in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish charity in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.
"We applaud Argentina’s justice system for its tenacious pursuit of justice against the perpetrators of this terrible attack, and stand ready to support the Argentine prosecution in any way we can," White House spokesman Tony Snow said in a statement.
"Hizballah and Iran remain a dangerous, global nexus of terrorism," the US statement added. "As the leading state sponsor of terrorism, Iran is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians worldwide. Its financial and military support for Hizballah has allowed that group to perpetrate violence throughout the world."
"We call on all governments to support the Argentine Government, to condemn such violent acts, and to work with the community of concerned nations to combat terrorists and all those who fund, support, harbor, and encourage them. These terrorists and their state sponsors must be made to realize they cannot hide from justice," Snow added.
Iran earlier Saturday dismissed the Argentine judge’s order. "The Argentine court verdict is legally baseless and the accusations are baseless," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini was quoted as saying by state television.
Lawyers for the bombed charity, the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association, have long accused the Shiite militia Hezbollah, based in Lebanon and backed by Iran, of carrying out the attack. Iran and Hezbollah has always denied involvement.
Rafsanjani was president at the time of the bombing. Also named in the warrants were ex-intelligence minister Ali Fallahijan, former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati and former head of the Revolutionary Guards Mohsen Rezai.
No one has ever been convicted for the bombing, which occurred on the morning of July 9, 1994.
Another attack in 1992 on the Israeli embassy, in which 22 people were killed and 200 were wounded, also remains unsolved.
Lawyers for the Jewish charity have long accused the Shiite militia Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, of carrying out the attack.
A succession of Argentine governments has been accused of botching or undermining the investigation.
Argentine President Nestor Kirchner has taken up the cause, as he has in many human rights cases stemming from Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship.
