The true cost of dealing with Iran
PUTIN’S AGENDA IS NOTHING LESS THAN GENOCIDAL. — LUBOMYR LUCIUK
Iran has been committing and supporting heinous acts of terrorism in the Middle East and around the world for years. It is responsible for war crimes committed in Syria, for supporting Hamas and Hezbollah’s hostility against Israel and for financing the war in Yemen. Iran shot down a Ukrainian airliner, killing 167 passengers, including many Canadians. It is also responsible for the horrific bombing of the Israeli Embassy and a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires. Can you imagine an Iran equipped with nuclear weapons?
Thursday marked the 30th anniversary of the devastating attack on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina. On that horrific day in 1992, 29 people were killed by the blast and 242 were injured.
Iran struck again just two years later, hitting the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA), killing 85 people and injuring hundreds more in the vicinity. Argentine state commissions and international investigations have implicated Iran and its terror proxies in the bombings. At a memorial in Buenos Aires on Thursday, Israeli Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar did not mince words, laying the blame for the attacks squarely on Iran.
Argentina immediately broke off diplomatic relations and severed its ties with the Islamic republic, accusing Iran of murdering Argentine nationals. Yet despite Argentina’s obvious support for Israel and its Jewish community, the wounds and trauma of these terror attacks resonate profoundly with the country’s Jewish population.
Argentina has issued five requests through Interpol for the extradition of suspected Iranian terrorists who were identified as having been complicit in the attacks. Still, most Latin-american Jewish community leaders who are currently in Argentina for meetings with the Latin Jewish Congress expressed shock and dismay at the lack of progress in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
In fact, Argentina’s top Jewish leader, Jorge Knoblovits — who sits on the Abraham Global Peace Initiative’s board of advisers and presides over the community’s umbrella organization, the Asociationes Israelitas Argentinas — is concerned that Iran will demand immunity for its crimes, as part of the ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna.
By most accounts, the Argentine Jewish community is highly respected by the government. In a meeting I attended with Argentine President Alberto Fernández earlier this week, he spoke of the nation’s shared values and the importance of its Jewish community. This sentiment was shared by multiple government officials with whom I had the pleasure of meeting.
The City of Buenos Aires’ undersecretary for human rights and cultural pluralism, Pamela Malewicz, told me that the city instituted legislation marking March 17 as the Day of Memory and Solidarity with the Victims of the Attack on the Embassy of Israel, to make people aware of the consequences of international terrorism and promote peace. Most significantly, the legislation is incorporated into the school calendar so that each year all students read a text of remembrance of the attack against the Israeli Embassy.
While the terror attacks against Jewish institutions unified the city, life hasn’t been the same ever since. Nearly every Jewish building I toured, including the Macabi Jewish community centre and the AMIA complex, is defended by massive concrete barriers. Every visitor must endure a complex system of security measures upon entry, which is often more stringent than airport security. The doors on these buildings are all made from bullet- and blast-proof heavy metal. Even the newly renovated Holocaust Museum is heavily guarded (imagine the sad irony).
As nuclear negotiations between the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and Iran continue in Vienna, the West must make every effort to prevent Iran from ever acquiring nuclear weapons. Russia’s assault on Ukraine illustrates just how dangerous it is for the West to deal with genocidal regimes, especially when they fall under the protection of a nuclear umbrella.
Iran has a history of supporting terrorism and extremism throughout the Middle East and around the world and has threatened to wipe Israel off the map. Even while Iran was sitting across the negotiation table from the United States, it launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraq’s northern city of Erbil, which was described by Reuters as “an unprecedented assault on the capital of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region that appeared to target the United States and its allies.”
This year’s anniversary of the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina is more important than ever. The Iranians may be sitting in beautifully tailored suits in fancy hotels in Vienna, creating an illusion of civility. But make no mistake: an Iran guided by religious fundamentalism with a nuclear weapon is much more dangerous than even Russia.
So why are we making a deal with the devil?