119-hres597

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 597 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
H. RES. 597

Condemning the attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association Jewish 
 Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 1994, and 
 encouraging accountability for the attack.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 July 17, 2025

Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Espaillat, and 
 Mr. Tony Gonzales of Texas) submitted the following resolution; which 
 was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

Condemning the attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association Jewish 
 Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 1994, and 
 encouraging accountability for the attack.

Whereas, 31 years ago, on July 18, 1994, 85 innocent people were killed and more 
 than 300 were injured when the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina

    (AMIA) was bombed in Buenos Aires, Argentina;
Whereas at that time, the AMIA bombing was the deadliest attack on Jewish people 
 outside Israel since the Holocaust;
Whereas it is reported that considerable evidence links the attack to the 
 terrorist group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, and sponsored by 
 Iran, a U.S.-designated state sponsor of terrorism since 1984;
Whereas, two years earlier, Hezbollah operatives also blew up the Israeli 
 embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 civilians and injuring 242;
Whereas the 31 years since the bombing have been marred by a failure to bring 
 those responsible, including Iran-backed operatives and their Hezbollah 
 proxies, to justice;
Whereas, in September 2004, ten years after the attack, Alberto Nisman was 
 appointed as the Special Prosecutor in charge of the 1994 AMIA bombing 
 investigation;
Whereas, in October 2006, Argentine prosecutors Alberto Nisman and Marcelo 
 Martinez Burgos formally accused the Iranian regime of directing the 
 bombing, and the Hezbollah militia of carrying it out;
Whereas the Argentine prosecutors charged Iranian nationals as suspects in the 
 AMIA bombing, including--

    (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 Ibrahim Hussein Berro, a member of the terrorist group Hezbollah, was 
 identified as the AMIA bomber;
Whereas, in November 2006, an Argentine judge issued arrest warrants for 8 
 Iranian nationals, including high-ranking regime and military 
 operatives, and one Lebanese national, who were named as suspects in the 
 AMIA bombing;
Whereas, in November 2007, INTERPOL voted to put the following suspects in the 
 1994 AMIA attack on its most wanted list--Ali Fallahijan, Mohsen 
 Rabbani, Ahmad Reza Asghari, Ahmad Vahidi, Mohsen Razaee from Iran, and 
 Imad Fayez Moughnieh from Lebanon;
Whereas INTERPOL currently has three red alerts in place in relation to the AMIA 
 attack;
Whereas, on January 13, 2015, prosecutor Alberto Nisman alleged in a complaint 
 that then-Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and then-
 Minister of Foreign Relations Hector Timerman conspired to cover up 
 Iranian involvement in the 1994 terrorist bombing, and reportedly agreed 
 to negotiate immunity for Iranian suspects and help get their names 
 removed from the INTERPOL list;
Whereas prosecutor Alberto Nisman was scheduled to present his new findings to 
 the Argentinian Congress on January 19, 2015;
Whereas prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found shot in the head in his apartment in 
 Buenos Aires on January 18, 2015;
Whereas the investigation of the AMIA bombing has been marked by judicial 
 misconduct and undue influence;
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;
Whereas former Federal Judge Juan Jose Galeano and former State Intelligence 
 Secretariat intelligence head Hugo Anzorreguy have both been convicted 
 and sentenced to prison for subverting the investigation and concealing 
 evidence;
Whereas, in 2019, the Argentine Government declared Hezbollah a terrorist 
 organization, expelled all members of the organization from the country, 
 and froze their assets in Argentina;
Whereas, in 2020, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez reaffirmed the 
 commitment of the Argentine Republic to bring those responsible for the 
 attack to justice;
Whereas, on April 12th, 2024, Argentina's highest criminal court, the Argentine 
 Court of Cassation, broke the extended silence of the justice system by 
 affirming Iran's responsibility for the deadly bombing and declaring it 
 a ``crime against humanity'';
Whereas, according to news reports of the ruling, the court identified ``top 
 Iranian officials and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard commanders in its 
 determination that Iran carried out the bombings in response to 
 Argentina scrapping three contracts that would have provided Tehran with 
 nuclear technology in the mid-1980s'';
Whereas Argentine President Javier Milei commended the high court's ruling, 
 noting that the determination was a ``significant step'' that put an end 
 to decades of ``delays and cover-ups'';
Whereas leaders in Argentina's Jewish community, including AMIA President Amos 
 Linetzky, noted that the historic ruling would finally provide an 
 opportunity for survivors and relatives of victims to seek legal action 
 against Iran;
Whereas the Foreign Ministry of Argentina responded to the court's ruling by 
 requesting that INTERPOL issue an immediate international arrest notice 
 for Ahmad Vahidi, who is now the Iranian Interior Minister, ``as one of 
 those responsible for the attack on AMIA''
Whereas, in March 2025, Argentina passed Law No. 27.784, which allows trial in 
 absentia, opening the door for prosecuting foreign suspects not present 
 in the country;
Whereas, in April 2025, AMIA special prosecutor Sebastian Basso requested both 
 national and international arrest warrants for Iran's Supreme Leader 
 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei under the authority of Law No. 27.784;
Whereas, on June 26, 2025, Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas ruled that a trial in 
 absentia would be held for the 10 men accused of planning and ordering 
 the terrorist attack on the AMIA; and
Whereas, today, Argentina is home to more than 250,000 Jewish people, making it 
 the largest home to Jews in Latin America and the 6th largest in the 
 world: Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

    (1) condemns the 1994 attack on the Asociacion Mutual 
 Israelita Argentina

    (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and 
 remembers the victims of this heinous act;

    (2) honors the memory of the victims and expresses sympathy 
 to their relatives, who have waited for more than 3 decades 
 without justice for the loss of their loved ones;

    (3) underscores the concern of the United States regarding 
 the continuing delay in the proper resolution of this case;

    (4) calls for the perpetrators of this horrific act, 
 including Iranian and Hezbollah operatives, to be held 
 accountable for their crimes;

    (5) commends the Government of Argentina for designating 
 Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations and urges other 
 United States allies and partners in Latin America and the 
 Caribbean to do the same;

    (6) demands that INTERPOL member countries comply with 
 arrest orders for individuals responsible for the deadly attack 
 on the AMIA Jewish Community Center; and

    (7) stands in solidarity with the Jewish community of 
 Argentina and the broader Latin American and Caribbean Jewish 
 diaspora at a time of surging antisemitism around the world.
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