Israel: ‘The Islamic country does not come with clean hands to dialogue’

 

September 29, 2012

 

Israel expressed deep concern Friday about Argentina’s efforts to work with Iran to solve the South American country’s worst terrorist attack.

Prosecutors believe Iranians bombed a Buenos Aires Jewish center in 1994, killing 84 people. But 18 years of effort have failed to advance the case, and Iran says it’s innocent. In the highest-level talks since the bombing, Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi agreed at the United Nations on Thursday to work together to satisfy both countries’ legal systems.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad initiated the meeting, saying at the U.N. that he hoped it would lead to normalized relations with Argentina.

After the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires warned Friday that Iran can’t be trusted and Argentine Jewish leaders expressed “great disappointment” at the meeting, Timerman quickly met with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, assuring him that Argentina won’t be fooled.

Argentina “has always kept at the center of its decisions the victims and their families, seeking a court ruling that takes into account Argentina’s legal system,” Timerman said, according to a foreign ministry statement.

Source: Associated Press.