MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Iran calls Argentine prosecutor ‘Zionist’ and denies infiltration in South America

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: “Israel must disappear from the face of the Earth”

In a brief but extremely aggressive release the Iranian Foreign Ministry rejected point blank the report from Argentine Prosecutor Alberto Nisman whom they described as “Zionist” and denied all allegations that Tehran has infiltrated nine South American countries to commit terrorist acts.

According to IRNA Iranian official news agency, the Ministry expressed that “due to the prosecutor’s background and Zionist character, we won’t consider his statements important”.

The Iranian government considers Israel a “Zionist entity” (as well as the United States) and ignores its existence. Not only that: it believes it must “disappear from the face of the Earth” as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said. Prosecutor Nisman has been accused of ‘Zionist’ because he is a Jew.

Last week, Prosecutor Alberto Nisman, in charge of investigating the 1994 AMIA bombing which killed 85 people, accused Iran of infiltrating several South American nations to “commit, foster and sponsor terrorist attacks.“

In a 500-page indictment, Nisman stressed such intelligence actions have been carried out in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Surinam, and requested Interpol international intelligence agency to arrest those Iranians accused of being involved in the attack, who already have Interpol Red Notices and international arrest warrants.

After accusing Iran of “infiltrating” Latin American countries to ”sponsor, foster and execute terrorist attacks,” the prosecutor in charge of the AMIA bombing investigation Alberto Nisman said the accused of the 1994 tragedy are “seriously dangerous terrorists.”

“In any part of the world, they would be in prison; in Iran they run for president,” Nisman affirmed in statements to local media as he stepped the pressure on the Iranian citizens allegedly involved in the case.

The prosecutor said he has “documents signed by top authorities in Iran” that prove the planned operation of the Islamic Republic that led to the killing of 85 people in Buenos Aires City on July 18, 1994.

“I have the certainty that that this is irrefutable proof. Any prosecutor who sits in my office will reach to the same conclusions because evidence leads to that,” Alberto Nisman stated and demanded INTERPOL to “maximize precaution to stop the accused” so that they can be questioned.

“(Iran) is a terrorist state that backs them”, he insisted.

AMIA bombing victim relative Sergio Burstein praised the indictment released by Prosecutor Alberto Nisman and stressed it “ratifies the Teheran agreement.”

Burstein considered the document “extraordinary” and referred to a fragment of Nisman's document which mentioned an aborted terrorist attack in the United States. “People were arrested because that’s a country which investigates and arrests those responsible. Here, those in charge of investigating end up in prison and accused of concealment.”

“The problem is now on Iran’s hands after everything that has been investigated in Argentina,” he stressed.

Nisman said that Iran instead of talking about the prosecutor “should reply the claims in the report” adding that “their negative reactions are always generic and refuse to address the core of the issue”.

Last January 27 Argentina signed an agreement with Iran to advance in the stalled AMIA case and to question five of the eight accused. After a long acrimonious debate the Argentine congress, with the government’s majority approved the controversial understanding and President Ahmadinejad did the same but avoiding congress.

The next step is for both sides to agree on naming a Truth Commission and the chair, but there could emerge the first obstacle since what happens with the Interpol red-alert, to they stand or will they be arrested as demanded by the red alerts.

Among the eight with high posts in the Iranian administration are: Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi; former Information minister Ali Fallahijan; former presidential advisor Moshen Rezai; the former Culture attaché at the Buenos Aires embassy, Moshen Rabbani and former diplomat Ahman Reza Ashgari.

However last week and despite Nisman’s report the Iranian broadcasting system reported that the memorandum signed with Argentina stands and has the support from Interpol.