Argentine and Iranian officials held bilateral talks last week in Zurich to “negotiate the terms” of the Memorandum of Understanding reached earlier this year to jointly probe the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre in 1994, Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman revealed late last night.
The meeting was agreed upon “by foreign ministers of both countries” last September in the UN headquarters in New York, Timerman said during a brief speech at the House of Government.
At the Zurich meeting, Argentina delivered “a proposal to comply with the Memorandum in 12 months’ time” after the so-called Truth Comission made up of five foreign legal experts, which was also part of the Memorandum is set up.
The Argentine judge will be able to travel to Tehran to question witnesses, Timerman ratified.
“Iranians committed themselves to a quick response to the Argentine proposal,” the foreign minister concluded. “Once again, the national government reaffirms that its only commitment is to cooperate with Argentine courts to uncover the truth about the AMIA attack, delivery justice to victims and thier families as well as punishment for those found guilty of having carried out the worst terorist attack in our country’s history.”
Earlier, Timerman congratulated world powers for reaching a temporary accord with Iran to curb its nuclear activities in return for the easing of sanctions imposed by Western countries.
The deal confirmed “it is possible to negotiate without resorting to violence,” Timerman said, in line with the country’s stance of “stressing diplomacy.”
In January, a 10-point “Memorandum of Understanding” — including the creation of a Truth Commission — between the Argentine and Iranian governments was signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The accord, which aims to make progress on the stalled investigation of the 1994 terrorist bombing of the Argentine-Jewish Community Centre (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, was harshly criticized by opposition leaders in Congress.