Iran has assured Argentina that it will honour an agreement signed earlier this year to shed light on the bombing of the Amia Jewish centre in Buenos Aires in 1994, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.

Argentina has accused eight Iranians of being behind the bombing — including the former president, Ali Rafsanjani — and demanded their extradition.

The Argentinian Foreign Minister, Héctor Timerman, and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, decided in a meeting in New York on September 28 that the two countries would jointly pursue the investigation into the attack, in Geneva in November.

In February, Argentina’s Congress formally approved the establishment of a “truth commission” with Iran.
Despite Iran’s recent assurances on its agreement with Argentina — which took place amid signs of a thaw in relations between Iran and the West — Argentinian Jewish leaders have expressed doubts that Tehran will investigate the Amia bombing in good faith.

Meanwhile, Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez took to Twitter this week to call on the US to include the issue of Amia bombing in any bilateral talks with Iran.

Referring to President Barack Obama’s telephone conversation with the Iranian president, she wrote: “Perhaps the Amia bombing, the case about which every American Jewish organisation always asks the Argentine government, was mentioned?”