Iran has slammed what it calls "Iranophobic" statements by the office of the Argentine president, as Javier Milei doubles down on countering potential threats from Iran.
Argentina designated Hamas a terrorist organization on Friday and ordered a freeze on the financial assets of the Iran-backed Palestinian group.
President Milei's office highlighted the Palestinian militant group's deadly cross-border attack on Israel last October, which resulted in 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages taken, marking the deadliest assault in Israel's 76-year history. The statement also underscored Hamas' close ties to Iran, which Argentina blames for two deadly attacks on Jewish sites in the country in the 1990s.
Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated on Saturday that "uncovering the truth and resolving the case definitively is only possible if the relevant parties in Argentina distance themselves from political motives and remain uninfluenced by the interference of third parties."
Kanaani also urged Argentine officials to refrain from anti-Iranian statements and actions, warning against exposing Argentina’s national interests and bilateral relations to the "Iranophobic scenarios of the Israeli-American axis of evil."
Argentina's statements and designations come just days before the 30th anniversary of the AMIA bombing, which killed 85 people and injured hundreds more in Buenos Aires, marking the worst such attack in the country’s modern history. The other attack, on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992, killed over 20 people. Argentina’s judiciary has accused members of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah of carrying out both attacks.
The US, European Union, and several other countries have long designated Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, as a terrorist organization.
Since Javier Milei took office as Argentina's president in December 2023, there has been increased focus on national security, especially regarding potential threats from Iran through its alliances with Bolivia and Venezuela.
The Argentine government has expressed concerns about the potential introduction of Iranian agents into the country via Bolivia and Venezuela. Iran has been using these countries as bases to conduct activities linked to terrorism and drug trafficking.
The Milei government has heightened surveillance and border controls to prevent the infiltration of Iranian agents. This move follows the broader strategy of ensuring that the country's security apparatus is robust against any covert operations that might be directed from Iran through its Latin American allies.
The country has formally requested Interpol to arrest Iran’s interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, for his alleged role in the attack that claimed 85 lives. Argentina has taken a significant step in its pursuit of justice for the victims of the 1992 Israeli embassy and 1994 bombing of AMIA - a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.