NEW YORK, March 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the bombing of Israel's embassy in Buenos Aires, AJC remembers the victims of the terror attack and reminds the world of the dangers Iran and its proxy Hezbollah still pose.
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The attack on March 17, 1992, left 29 dead and 242 wounded. The blast destroyed the Israeli Embassy, and damaged neighboring buildings, including a school. No one has been arrested, but Iran, implicated in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, is strongly suspected of organizing the embassy attack.
"Though the 1992 bombing of Israel's embassy in Argentina was the first such attack in Latin America, it certainly was not the last by Iran, which continues to target Israelis and Jews worldwide," said AJC Executive David Harris. "Iran's long-arm of terror has struck in recent days Israeli diplomats in New Delhi, and attempted to attack Israel's embassies in Azerbaijan and Georgia."
Over the past two decades Iran has stepped up its influence in Latin America, mainly in Venezuela but also expanding economic and political ties in other countries across the region. Hezbollah operatives reportedly are active in the region.
"The failure to arrest and prosecute anyone responsible for the 1992 embassy attack is an open wound for Israel as well as for Argentina," said Harris.
An Argentine government investigation of the AMIA attack concluded that Iran and Hezbollah were directly involved. Several Iranian officials, including the current defense minister, are wanted by Interpol.
SOURCE American Jewish Committee
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