Twenty-three years ago, Iran through its agents in Hizballah bombed a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 85 and wounding hundreds more. Iran has marked the occasion by saying that it is ready to work with Interpol to resolve the case. That’s nonsense, writes Matthew Levitt:
Tehran’s outreach . . . should be seen for what it is: The fox trying to weasel its way into the investigation of the raided henhouse. If Iran wants to help investigate the AMIA bombing, it should present the Iranians indicted for the crime to Argentine prosecutors. Anything else is hollow rhetoric.
The hypocrisy of Iran’s offer is further highlighted by the fact that it has continued to support Hizballah since 1994, as Levitt points out:
For example, on July 18, 2012—eighteen years to the day after the AMIA bombing—Hizballah operatives murdered six people and wounded many more in a bus bombing at the Burgas airport in Bulgaria. . . .
Beyond Europe, Hizballah activities continued unabated in South America. In November 2014, a Hizballah plot was foiled in Peru. More recently, a Hizballah operative based in the U.S. was sent by the group to carry out surveillance in Panama.
In the past five months, several other suspected operatives have been arrested in the U.S. for their alleged financial ties to Hizballah. Kassim Tajideen was extradited to the United States from Morocco in March 2017 and was charged with being a “prominent financial supporter of the Hizballah terror organization.” In June, Ali Kourani and Samer el Debek were arrested in New York and Michigan, respectively, for their alleged activities in support of Hizballah. Both were arrested on charges of “providing, attempting and conspiring to provide material support to Hizballah,” as well as receiving “military-type training from Hizballah.”
Read more on The Hill: http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international-affairs/342761-on-bombing-anniversary-iran-still-engaged-in-illicit#.WXDxloAyRtI.twitter