[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 730 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 730

   Remembering the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Embassy of 
 Israel in Buenos Aires on March 17, 1992, the 28th anniversary of the 
bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association building in Buenos 
 Aires on July 18, 1994, and recommitting to efforts to uphold justice 
                    for the victims of the attacks.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 28, 2022

   Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Cardin, Mr. 
  Kaine, and Mr. Coons) submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Remembering the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Embassy of 
 Israel in Buenos Aires on March 17, 1992, the 28th anniversary of the 
bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association building in Buenos 
 Aires on July 18, 1994, and recommitting to efforts to uphold justice 
                    for the victims of the attacks.

Whereas, on March 17, 1992, a truck laden with explosives struck and detonated 
        at the Embassy of Israel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 29 people 
        and wounding more than 200 others;
Whereas Argentina is home to the largest Jewish community in Latin America--and 
        the sixth largest in the world, outside Israel;
Whereas, in 1999, the Supreme Court of Argentina, after conducting an 
        investigation, found that the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah 
        was responsible for the bombing, which claimed the lives of Israeli 
        diplomats, their relatives, and numerous Argentine citizens and 
        children;
Whereas, 2 years after the bombing of the Embassy of Israel in Argentina, on 
        July 18, 1994, a car bomb detonated at the Argentine Israelite Mutual 
        Association (AMIA) Jewish Community Center building in Buenos Aires, 
        killing 85 people and wounding more than 300 others, rendering it the 
        deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina's history;
Whereas, for 25 years, the investigation into the AMIA bombing has been stymied 
        by international inaction, political interference, investigative 
        misconduct, and allegations of cover-ups, including the removal of the 
        Federal judge in charge of the case in 2005 for ``serious'' 
        irregularities in his handling of the case;
Whereas, in October 2006, Argentine prosecutors Alberto Nisman and Marcelo 
        Martin Burgos formally accused the Government of Iran of directing 
        Hezbollah to carry out the AMIA bombing;
Whereas the Argentine prosecutors charged the following Iranian nationals as 
        suspects in the AMIA bombing:

    (1) Ali Fallahijan, Iran's former intelligence minister;

    (2) Mohsen Rabbani, Iran's former cultural attache in Buenos Aires;

    (3) Ahmad Reza Asghari, a former Iranian diplomat posted to Argentina;

    (4) Ahmad Vahidi, Iran's former defense minister;

    (5) Ali Akbar Velayati, Iran's former foreign minister;

    (6) Mohsen Rezaee, former chief commander of the Iranian Islamic 
Revolutionary Guard Corps;

    (7) Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former President of Iran; and

    (8) Hadi Soleimanpour, former Iranian ambassador to Argentina;

Whereas, in November 2007, the International Criminal Police Organization 
        (INTERPOL) published Red Notices on 5 of the Iranian nationals and 
        Hezbollah operative Ibrahim Hussein Berro;
Whereas those with INTERPOL Red Notices have repeatedly traveled internationally 
        with impunity on more than 20 occasions since 2007;
Whereas, in May 2013, Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman published a 500-page 
        report accusing the Government of Iran of establishing terrorist 
        networks throughout Latin America;
Whereas, in January 2015, Mr. Nisman released the results of an investigation 
        alleging that then-President Fernandez de Kirchner and then-Foreign 
        Minister Timerman conspired to cover up Iranian involvement in the 1994 
        AMIA bombing and that they had agreed to negotiate immunity for Iranian 
        suspects and secure the removal of the INTERPOL Red Notices;
Whereas Mr. Nisman was scheduled to present his findings to a commission of the 
        Argentine National Congress on January 19, 2015, but on January 18, 
        2015, was found dead as the result of a gunshot wound to his head in his 
        apartment in Buenos Aires; and
Whereas, to date, no one has been brought to justice for the 1992 bombing of the 
        Israeli Embassy in Argentina, the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish 
        Community Center in Buenos Aires, or the death of Argentine prosecutor 
        Alberto Nisman: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) reiterates its strongest condemnation of the 1992 
        attack on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina and the 1994 attack 
        on the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish 
        Community Center in Buenos Aires;
            (2) honors the victims of the 1992 bombing of the Israeli 
        Embassy in Argentina and the 1994 AMIA bombing, and expresses 
        its sympathy to the relatives of the victims, who are still 
        waiting for justice;
            (3) underscores the concern of the United States regarding 
        the continuing, decades-long delay in resolving the 1992 and 
        1994 terrorist attacks in Argentina, and urges the President of 
        the United States to offer technical assistance to the 
        Government of Argentina to support the ongoing investigations;
            (4) urges the Government of Argentina and the international 
        community to continue efforts to bring the perpetrators of the 
        March 17, 1992, and July 18, 1994, terrorist attacks to 
        justice, including enforcing the INTERPOL Red Notices and 
        extending them when they are up for review in November 2022;
            (5) commends the Government of Argentina for designating 
        Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and urges other United 
        States allies and partners in Latin America and the Caribbean 
        to do the same; and
            (6) commends the Government of Argentina for adopting the 
        International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition 
        of antisemitism and encourages other partners and allies to do 
        the same.
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