The façade of the AMIA building after the bombing.
Clearing the rubble.
Seven senior Iranian officials and one senior Hezbollah operative for whom Argentina requested international arrest warrants. The bottom left picture is Imad Mughnieh, who was responsible for Hezbollah's military-terrorist wing.
The Israeli embassy building after the attack (tags.walla.co.il).
The Israeli embassy building after the attack (tags.walla.co.il).
Special Prosecutor Alberto Nisman
The American secretary of justice holds a press conference to report on the five leading international criminal organizations, one of which is Hezbollah (Justice Department website, October 16, 2019).
Emergency meeting of the Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo (Arab League YouTube channel, November 20, 2017).
Overview
On July 18, 2019, Argentina designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The announcement was made two days after Argentine President Mauricio Mauri announced a list of terrorist organizations, institutions and operatives, enabling the Argentine authorities to take punitive steps against them. The announcement was made on the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires (the AMIA building[1]), July 18, 1994, at a time when high-ranking American officials, headed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, were visiting the country. The Economic Information Unit of the Argentine government then issued an order to freeze Hezbollah’s assets in Argentina because “Hezbollah continues to represent a current threat to security and the integrity of the economic and financial order of the Argentine Republic” (BBC News, July 18, 2019). Designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization gives the Argentine government better tools to deal with Hezbollah’s terrorist, criminal and subversive activities in Argentina and in Latin America in general.
- Argentina, which has a large Shi’ite community, is the first Latin American country to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. In ITIC assessment, behind the move was international pressure, mainly from the United States, following the great amount of evidence regarding Hezbollah’s activity in the Tri Border area, the triangle where the borders of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet. Thus Argentina joins the United States, Canada, Britain and Holland, all of which have designated Hezbollah, the entire organization, as a terrorist organization. On the other hand, the EU and a number of additional European countries still adhere to the mistaken distinction between Hezbollah’s military wing (designated as a terrorist organization) and its civilian wing (which is not designated as a terrorist organization).[2]
- Argentina accused Iran and Hezbollah the terrorist attack on the AMIA building in 1994, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300. Iran and Hezbollah were also accused of a terrorist attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires two years earlier (March 17, 1992), killing 29 people and wounding more than 250. In 2006, after a long investigation, the Argentine authorities requested international arrest warrants (INTERPOL red list warrants) for seven senior Iranians and one senior Hezbollah operative (Imad Mughnieh) on suspicion of involvement in the AMIA bombing. None of them has ever been arrested or indicted.
Right: The façade of the AMIA building after the bombing. Left: Clearing the rubble.
Seven senior Iranian officials and one senior Hezbollah operative for whom Argentina requested international arrest warrants. The bottom left picture is Imad Mughnieh, who was responsible for Hezbollah’s military-terrorist wing.
- In response to the Argentine announcement, Sheikh Na’im Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, claimed the decision was in response to American appeals to several countries to carry out its program of exerting pressure on Hezbollah. He also denied any connection between Hezbollah and the terrorist attacks in Argentina (Reuters, July 18, 2019).
So far it is unclear whether the Argentine decision will have any practical significance beyond the declarative, and whether it will lead to measures taken by the authorities against Hezbollah. In any event it gives Argentina better tools to cope with Hezbollah in the intelligence, legal and economic spheres. In July 2018 Argentina froze the assets of 14 members of the Barakat clan in the Tri Border area, who were, according to the authorities, close to Hezbollah.[3] If such measures are in fact instituted he Argentine declaration may make difficulties for Hezbollah’s financial and criminal activities in Argentina and Latin America in general.
Appendices
- Three appendices follow:
- Appendix A: Hezbollah’s activity in Argentina
- Appendix B: Designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization – Overview
- Appendix C: ITIC publications about Iranian and Hezbollah activity in Argentina and Latin America in general – Overview
[1] Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina ↑
[2] Separating Hezbollah's military wing from its civilian wing has no basis in fact, because its military-terrorist wing and civilian wing are integrated into one another. Hezbollah's military might strengthens its civilian power in Lebanon, while its civilian and social activities are exploited for strengthening its military wing and receiving the support of the Shi'ite population for Hezbollah's activity. Moreover, Hezbollah's institutions and leaders, especially Hassan Nasrallah, determine the entire organization's policies, including decisions relating to its military infrastructure and civilian institutions. ↑
[3] For further information, see the August 12, 2018 bulletin by Emanuele Ottolenghi, "Hezbollah's Tri Border Area terror finance comes under fire at last." ↑
