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