Recently, Prosecutor Sebastián Basso, head of the investigation into the bombing of the AMIA center in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, requested that the judge issue both domestic and international arrest warrants for the Iranian regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
International experts and media outlets described this move as unprecedented and a significant shift in the stance previously taken by the investigative panel, which until now had considered Khamenei, as the regime’s Supreme Leader, to have “immunity.”
Simay Azadi had an interview with Prosecutor Sebastián Basso to ask him about this decision and the ongoing investigation into the regime’s terrorist bombing of the AMIA. This bombing, which occurred on July 18, 1994, left 85 people dead and 300 injured.
The full transcription of this interview is below:
Welcome, Dr. Basso, and thank you for being with us.
Thank you very much for reaching out to Argentina.
Doctor, can you explain what the investigation has concluded so far about who carried out the AMIA bombing and who gave the orders?
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 18, 1994, there was a bombing, a car bombing, targeting a building representative of the Jewish community in Buenos Aires.
That bombing resulted in the deaths of more than 80 people, countless injuries, and extensive material damage to buildings in the city.
The judicial and police investigation into the attack made it possible to determine that the perpetrators were individuals linked to an organization that Argentina considers terrorist, associated with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
These individuals came from outside Argentina, basically from a region in the north near the border with Brazil and Paraguay known as the Tri-Border Area.
These are the people who carried out the attack, and the Argentine investigation identified a Lebanese national, Salman Raouf Salman, as the main coordinator of this bombing in Buenos Aires.
The investigation in Buenos Aires determined that Salman Raouf Salman at that time had very close ties with an official at the Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires, who served as a cultural attaché and had connections with a Shiite community in Buenos Aires named Moshen Rabbani.
It was proven in the Argentine case that Rabbani, in addition to his cultural and religious activities, carried out espionage and intelligence operations for the political regime governing Iran.
The investigation concluded that Hezbollah carried out the AMIA bombing under the orders of the regime that sponsors it—that is, the regime that provides weapons, money, and social and cultural support to Hezbollah’s members.
That regime has governed Iran from 1979 until today.
It was determined that the decision to plant a bomb at the AMIA headquarters was made in Iran, in the city of Mashhad, approximately one year earlier, during a meeting attended by the regime’s highest leader and senior government officials linked to security, defense, and foreign policy.
Precisely because these individuals decided and authorized the attack that caused many deaths in Argentina, the Argentine Prosecutor’s Office believes that the Supreme Leader, Khamenei, and the senior officials who participated in that meeting and decided to carry out the bombing at AMIA, must answer to Argentine judges and sit as defendants before the courts of the Republic of Argentina.
Doctor, on what grounds did you request an arrest warrant for Khamenei last week?
Over the 30 years of investigation, we have gathered evidence, including testimonies from former members of the Iranian regime. Among them is a person who also testified in German courts about a terrorist attack against Iranian dissidents that took place in 1992 at the Mykonos restaurant.
This individual is considered highly credible by both the German and Argentine justice systems and explained how the Iranian regime operates and why that meeting in Mashhad occurred a year earlier.
In addition to that testimony, we also have statements and documents from Iranian regime dissidents, primarily located in Europe—specifically from the Iranian Mojahedin section—who, through intelligence reports, were able to confirm that a meeting indeed took place on August 14 in Mashhad.
It was in that meeting that the decision was made to bomb Buenos Aires, motivated by the foreign policy interests of the Iranian regime.
You also stated that Khamenei is the only person who could have authorized this attack. Can you elaborate on that?
From Argentina, we needed to understand the political and legal system in Iran, which is very different from Western systems.
We had to study how Iran is governed and how its legal system works, where political, legal, and religious decisions are intertwined.
As a result of this study, we concluded that the only way to authorize such a heinous act—a terrorist bombing—is through the decision of a leader who simultaneously holds religious, political, and judicial authority.
At this moment, the only person who fits that description is Khamenei.
Therefore, we believe this was his decision, through what we interpret as a “fatwa,” and we consider that this was the only way the attack could have been executed.
That is why the Prosecutor’s Office believes Khamenei must explain his role and responsibility in the bombing—whether it is as the Argentine justice system has shown, or whether he has something else to say.
Doctor, we know the AMIA attack was not the only one. In 2018, for example, there was another attempted bombing in Paris targeting an event held by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Did these similar cases strengthen your commitment to the AMIA case?
To strengthen the AMIA case, we examined and studied other attacks linked to the Iranian regime that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s.
Due to the timeframe, we focused only on those incidents.
As I mentioned earlier, one emblematic case is the Mykonos restaurant attack in Germany.
We also analyzed other attacks in France here at the Prosecutor’s Office, and additional attacks in Latin America and Asia—for example, in Panama and in Bangkok—where, under similar circumstances, we observed the presence of this Lebanese-origin group, Hezbollah.
Hezbollah consistently operates under the protection of the Iranian regime and follows its orders, as Hezbollah members themselves frequently acknowledge.
Do you believe pressure from the Iranian regime on the Argentine government—for example, summoning Argentina’s chargé d’affaires this week—could halt your judicial investigation?
Argentina is governed by a constitutional rule of law. Judges and prosecutors are independent of the government.
We enjoy legal immunities and have the guarantees provided by the Argentine state to continue our investigations independently and impartially.
We know, we are aware, that there may be pressure. In all such cases, pressure exists.
We know the Iranian regime may become angry—and it is understandable that they are angry—but it is also reasonable to give an answer to Argentine society and the victims of the bombing.
That is why we are moving forward, even if the current authorities of the Iranian regime are not pleased.
And Doctor, in your opinion, what does justice mean in the AMIA case?
Under Argentine law, justice means securing the conviction of those responsible through a fair trial and ensuring that those responsible serve their sentences in prison.
We know we cannot achieve that because the Iranian regime has never cooperated with Argentina.
Therefore, what we are doing now is what is called a trial in absentia, where—perhaps symbolically—we can show that the investigation is objective and based on truth.
It is not a conspiracy of Argentine officials with others from foreign countries.
Our accusation is based on real evidence, and the only thing we are pursuing is truth and justice.
Thank you very much.