On Tuesday, March 16, 2017, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL-24) presented the House of Representatives with House Resolution 201 – ‘Expressing support to the Government of Argentina for its investigation into the terrorist bombing of the Embassy of Israel in Buenos Aires on March 17, 1992.’
The Resolution was co-sponsored by the following congressmen: Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL-22), Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA-39), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY-16), Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC-3), and Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ-8). Congressmen Royce and Engel are the Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The resolution includes the following points:
On March 17, 1992, the Embassy of Israel in Buenos Aires was the site of a barbaric terrorist bombing. 29 people lost their lives in this attack, among them Israeli diplomats and their spouses, as well as Argentinian citizens. An additional 242 people were seriously wounded.
In 1999, the Supreme Court of Argentina, after conducting an investigation, found that the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah was responsible for the bombing. Evidence shows that the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, was responsible for directing, financing, and assisting Hezbollah in the execution of this terrorist attack.
On July 18, 1994, just two years after the bombing in Argentina, 85 people were killed in a similar terrorist attack on the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) building in Buenos Aires. In 2006, Argentina issued international arrests warrants against nine Iranian officials in connection with the AMIA atrocity. Yet, the culprits of these heinous crimes have never been brought to justice.
Argentinian President Mauricio Macri appointed a Special Investigator to examine the AMIA terrorist attack. The investigation determined that the bombing was conducted by Iranian proxy Hezbollah, just as with the Embassy bombing in 1992.
House Resolution 201 calls on the United States Government to assist the Government of Argentina in any possible way so that the perpetrators of the 1992 and 1994 attacks can finally be brought to justice.
The Resolution also determines that the murderous terrorist attacks upon the Israeli Embassy to Argentina and the AMIA constitute an affront to humanity and the values of civilized society, and reminds us that the international community must cooperate and work together to combat and defeat international terrorism and its state sponsors.
Finally, the Resolution urges the Government of Iran to take meaningful steps towards fully complying with investigations by the Government of Argentina, including the immediate release of all information it possesses regarding the attacks.