Argentine Prosecutor in AMIA Bombing Case Seeks Arrest Warrant for Iran’s Supreme Leader

Latest Developments

• Khamenei Wanted For Questioning: Argentina’s lead prosecutor investigating the deadly July 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center has urged the arrest of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Appearing before a federal court on April 9, Sebastian Basso requested an international and Argentinian arrest warrant for Khamenei, asserting that he was directly involved in planning the atrocity. Basso stated that Khamenei “led the decision to carry out a bomb attack in Buenos Aires in July 1994 and issued executive order (fatwa) 39 to carry it out.” 
• Iran Responsible for Attack: Carried out by operatives from the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group, the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires was the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina’s history, in which 85 people were killed and 300 were wounded. In April 2024, the country’s highest criminal court declared the Islamic Republic responsible for the “crime against humanity.”
• No Immunity for Terrorism and Crimes Against Humanity: Basso — who replaced former lead prosecutor Alberto Nisman following his murder in 2015 — said that “all of Iran’s military and foreign policies are under [Khamenei’s] direct supervision” and that he is the “main supporter of groups with military capabilities, such as Hezbollah.” Argentina previously avoided issuing arrest warrants against Khamenei, believing that his official role gave him immunity from prosecution. In his request for the warrant, Basso argued that “this approach does not align with international law” when crimes against humanity and acts of terrorism are committed.

FDD Expert Response

“There is no doubt about Khamenei’s role in the bombing. He led the Committee for Special Operations meeting on August 14, 1993, in the city of Mashhad, which made the decision to carry out the terrorist attack. Khamenei issued the fatwa, the religious decree, that legitimized the attack from the perspective of Islamic law. Argentina, under President Javier Milei, has ended the era of impunity for the Islamic Republic’s leaders, who continue to this day to engage in the same kind of terrorism that underpinned the AMIA bombing. Others should follow Milei’s lead.” — Toby Dershowitz, Managing Director, FDD Action

“Prior to the October 7, 2023, Hamas atrocities in Israel, the AMIA bombing was recognized as the deadliest attack on a Jewish target since the Nazi Holocaust. More than 30 years later, no one has ever been prosecuted, much less convicted, for this horrible crime. Iran’s culpability here, as demonstrated by the painstaking investigation of the late Alberto Nisman, is beyond doubt.” — Ben Cohen, Senior Analyst and Rapid Response Director

FDD Background and Analysis

“After Intervention From Milei, Will the Truth Triumph in Probe of Death of Prosecutor Investigating the AMIA Bombing?” by Ben Cohen

“A Break in the Argentina Murder Case Tied to Iran,” by Ben Cohen and Toby Dershowitz

“The AMIA Bombing: Thirty Years Later,” by Toby Dershowitz and Emanuele Ottolenghi

“The Killers of the AMIA Still Walk Free,” by Emanuele Ottolenghi