ARGENTINA: GOVERNMENT JOINS JEWISH COMMUNITY IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000966

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2024
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PARM ETTC ENRG IR AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: GOVERNMENT JOINS JEWISH COMMUNITY IN
CONDEMNING IRAN'S NOMINATION OF AHMAD VAHIDI AS MINISTER OF
DEFENSE

REF: A. BUENOS AIRES 0095

B. BUENOS AIRES 0121

C. BUENOS AIRES 0955

Classified By: CDA Tom Kelly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: The Government of Argentina on August 21
condemned Iranian President Ahmadinejad's August 19
nomination of Ahmad Vahidi as Minister of Defense, labeling
the selection an "insult to Argentine justice and to the
victims of the brutal terrorists attack against the Argentine
Jewish Mutual Association." The GOA noted that Vahidi was
wanted by Argentina via Interpol for his alleged role in
planning and authorizing the 1994 bombing of AMIA, which left
85 dead and hundreds injured. The GOA response followed
quickly on a burst of outrage from Argentine Jewish
organizations and a sharp criticism from Alberto Nisman,
Argentina's Special Prosecutor on the AMIA attack. Iran's
response, in the press on August 24, rejected Argentine
"interference in its internal affairs" and blamed Zionist
propaganda for the Argentine charge; this response was
reportedly repeated when the Argentine Charge d,Affaires in
Tehran was convoked to the Iranian MFA on the 24th. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) The Government of Argentina (GOA) Ministry of
Foreign Affairs issued a statement August 21 conveying its
"most energetic condemnation" of Iran's nomination of Ahmad
Vahidi as Iranian Defense Minister, noting that Vahidi was
wanted by Argentine justice for his role in planning and
authorizing the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual
Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires. The statement further
noted that Interpol at Argentina's request issued in 2007
"capture order" for Vahidi. The MFA called the nomination
"an insult to Argentine justice and to the victims of the
brutal terrorist attack against the Argentine Jewish Mutual
Association" (AMIA). The statement closed saying that
Argentina "demands again" that Iran cooperate with Argentine
justice so that "those implicated may be judged in the
appropriate courts."


3. (U) The strong government response came shortly after news
of Iranian President Ahmadinejad's nomination of Vahidi
sparked outraged responses from the Jewish community in
Buenos Aires and a strong criticism from the Government's
Special AMIA Prosecutor, Alberto Nisman. AMIA President
Guillermo Borger said the organization "was surprised and
indignant" at the nomination. Nisman, for his part, said it
was not a surprise, because it came from a regime "that had
not only failed to offer its suspects for trial," but a
regime that had "protected them and given them new government
jobs, albeit never at the ministerial level with such a
sensitive portfolio."


4. (U) Iran's official response, according to the local press
on August 24, blasted Argentina for "interference in the
internal affairs of Iran" and attributed the Argentine
statement to the "pressures, bribes and influence of the
Zionist lobby." Largest-circulation daily newspaper "Clarin"
ran the story under a banner headline on page one. In
response, Cabinet Chief Anibal Fernandez reiterated the
Argentine position August 24, saying the GOA had no desire to
interfere in Iranian affairs and was simply insisting that
Vahidi should be passed into Argentine custody. Wire service
reports on August 25 indicated that Argentina,s Charge in
Tehran, Mario Quinteros, had been summoned to the Foreign
Ministry, where he was told that the Argentine judicial
system was defending the rights of &Zionists rather than the
Argentine people.8

Controversy Follows AMIA Anniversary
--------------




5. (SBU) The controversy over Vahidi's nomination came
immediately on the heels of the emotional fifteenth annual
commemoration of the 1994 AMIA attack, which was held on the
packed street in front of the rebuilt community center on
August 18 (one month after the actual anniversary of the
attack). President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK),her
Chief of Cabinet Anibal Fernandez, Acting Foreign Minister
Victorio Taccetti, Minister of Labor Carlos Tomada, Minister
of Justice Julio Alak, and Minister of the Interior Florencio
Randazzo all attended representing the government. Charge
d'Affaires represented the U.S. Embassy.


6. (SBU) In addition to standing amidst the crowd rather than
on the stage (and enduring a bit of a scrum on exiting after
the event),CFK listened with apparent equanimity to a speech
by a representative of the victims' families, Sergio
Burstein, that mixed praise for the Government's efforts to
bring Iranian suspects and local collaborators to justice
with criticisms for its failure to act energetically enough.
Burstein also lambasted the GOA,s National
Anti-discrimination Institute President, Maria Jose
Lubertino, for her response to a January anti-Israel protests
featuring anti-Semitic imagery led by pro-Kirchner
"piquetero" social activist leader Luis D'Elia (reftels A and
B). (Note: Lubertino had defended the protests on the basis
of free speech, saying Israel's military operations in Gaza
"violated international law, and that turned (public opinion)
against them.")


7. (SBU) Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri (leader of the
opposition PRO party),not in attendance, came in for even
more heated criticism, particularly for his nomination of
former National Police Commissioner Jorge Palacios as Chief
of the new Buenos Aires city police force. Palacios is
blamed by some in the Jewish community for allegedly helping
to cover up during the first AMIA investigation the role of a
confidant of former President Carlos Menem in the attack.
Macri's administration was also blamed for not providing
sufficient protection to prevent an anti-Semitic attack on an
event at the Israeli Embassy May 17 (reftel C).

Comment
--------------


8. (C) Although the Government of Argentina has been
criticized for its occasional forbearance of Iran,
particularly regarding its close ties to Kirchner ally Hugo
Chavez in Venezuela, in this instance the GOA reacted firmly.
The timing of the Vahidi nomination, so soon after
significant press attention to the fifteenth AMIA anniversary
and to the critical speeches given there, may have been an
important factor in the GOA response, but the GOA statement
stands on its own merit and deserves recognition.
KELLY