JOURNALfor the STUDYof ANTISEMITISM

2011] TERROR NETWORKS 145
few days after the “Gaza Flotilla” incident. The proposal was rejected, but
almost one third of the member states supported it.
Even more sensitive—and, indeed, a threat to regional stability—is the
permission granted by Chávez for the construction of an Iranian missile
base on Venezuelan soil. According to a report originally published by the
German daily Die Welt in November 2010, the facilities will include the
deployment of platforms for storage of missiles with diverse ranges, plus
four mobile platforms, which will be operated by the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard. The agreement grants permission to Iran to open fire “in case of
emergency.” The installations are scheduled for activation by the end of
2011.
NAZI SAFE HAVEN FOR TERRORISTS
Opposite ALBA’s partnership with Iran is Argentina’s judicial case
against a group of high-level Iranian officials for their alleged responsibility
in the bombing of the AMIA Jewish Center on July 18, 1994, which left 85
people dead and hundreds injured. A special investigation unit, led by Chief
Prosecutor Alberto Nisman, has concluded that the attack was decided by
the highest Iranian political leadership, including former president Hashemi
Rafsanjani and former foreign minister Alí Akbar Velayati. A key role was
played by the former cultural attaché to Argentina, Sheikh Mohsen Rabbani,
who played the part of a field commander. The warrants were
endorsed by Interpol with “Red Notice” status, with the exception of Rafsanjani,
Velayati, and Hadi Soleimanpour (former Iranian ambassador to
Argentina), because they were considered “high authorities.” This does not
diminish their alleged responsibility. 7
The Argentine government backed the judicial case actively. Both the
late former president Néstor Kirchner and current president Cristina Kirchner
condemned Iran’s protection to the suspects at successive editions of the
UN General Assembly, and demanded that they be submitted to a court
trial.
These initiatives from the Argentine authorities have caused a reaction
from Iran: they of course dismissed the charges, started to co-opt Argentine
7. According to the prosecutor’s indictment, the AMIA attack was decided on
August 13, 1993, in Mashad (Iran). In addition to the names mentioned above,
warrants were issued against Mohsen Rezai (commander of the Pasdaran–Iranian
revolutionary guard), Ahmad Vahidi (commander of the Al Quds force), Ali Fallahijan
(former intelligence and security minister), Ahmad Reza Asghari (third secretary
of the Iranian Embassy to Argentina, between 1991 and 1994), and Imad
Mougnieh (Hizbollah security chief, murdered February 2008).