* Argentina changes diplomatic tack by agreeing to meet
Iranians
* Israel urges Argentina to “keep evidence in mind”
BUENOS AIRES, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Israel said on Friday it
was greatly disappointed by Argentina’s decision to meet Iranian
officials to discuss the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish
community center that Argentine courts accuse Tehran of
sponsoring.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez ordered her foreign
minister to accept Iran’s request for talks in New York this
week, marking a sharp change in diplomatic policy and drawing
criticism from Jewish leaders in Buenos Aires.
Ties between Argentina and Iran had been virtually frozen
since authorities secured Interpol arrest warrants for five
Iranians and a Lebanese in 2007 over the bombing of the center,
which killed 85 people. Iran denies links to the attack.
“The Israeli government received with great disappointment
the news that Argentina accepted a meeting with Iran at the
foreign ministerial level to advance on the issue of the
investigation into the … attack,” a statement from Israel’s
embassy in Buenos Aires said.
“The investigation report led by the special team at
Argentina’s attorney general determined in detail and without
any doubt that the decision to blow up the … building was
taken in the upper echelons of the Iranian government,” it
added. “We hope (Argentina) keeps this evidence in mind during
their meetings with the Iranians.”
Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, who met his
Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, in New York on Friday,
expressed “surprise” at the embassy’s comments.
“Foreign Minister Lieberman and other members of the
delegation indicated that they were not aware of the press
statement,” the Foreign Ministry said, adding Timerman had been
invited to visit Israel.
Iran and Argentina – home to Latin America’s biggest Jewish
community – said on Thursday they would keep talking and that
their goal was to “explore a legal mechanism that does not go
against the systems of either Argentina or Iran.”
The detente is also likely to rile the United States as it
seeks to isolate Iran over its nuclear program.
Western and Israeli sources have voiced concerns that
Argentina might have lost its interest in pursuing
investigations of the 1994 attack, as well as a bombing of the
Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people two years
earlier.
The Islamic Jihad Organization, believed to be linked to
Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, claimed
responsibility for the 1992 bombing.
