Argentina designates Hamas as a terrorist group –and Iran gets angry

Back in February, Martin Griffiths, UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, denied that Hamas was a terrorist organization. “Hamas is not a terrorist group for us,” he said. “It is a political movement.” Five months later, from the southern cone of the American continent, the Argentine government refuted this assertion by designating Hamas as a terrorist movement in the Public Registry of Persons and Entities linked to Acts of Terrorism and their Financing (Repet). In 2019, the conservative government of Mauricio Macri created this registry and incorporated the Lebanese Hezbollah militia as a terrorist organization. In 2024, the government of libertarian Javier Milei added the Palestinian group Hamas.

In the statement that made this act official, the Argentine government declared: “Hamas has claimed responsibility for the atrocities during the attack perpetrated on Israel on October 7. These add to an extensive history of terrorist attacks in its name.” Other countries had already designated Hamas as a terrorist group: the United States, the European Union, Canada, Japan, Australia and Israel, among others. The decision was made a week before the 30th anniversary of the attack against the AMIA Jewish community headquarters in Buenos Aires at the hands of Hezbollah under instructions from Iran. The President of Israel Isaac Herzog thanked Argentina for the decision, as did Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who in a 14-second video pronounced: “Thank you Argentina, thank you President Javier Milei, for declaring Hamas a terrorist organization. “This is a sign of friendship with Israel and its commitment to the truth.”

But not everyone was happy. The Ayatollah regime responded to Buenos Aires through an editorial in the official English-language newspaper The Tehran Times. In the “about us” section the newspaper introduces itself this way: “The Tehran Times (TT) is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s first English daily newspaper, which began its work in 1979 to air the voice of the Islamic Revolution.” This voice protested strongly against Argentina´s  determination in an editorial published on July 14 titled “AMIA Case on the Eve of its 30th Anniversary.”

The editorial stated: “As we approach the 30th anniversary of the explosion at the Argentine Zionist Association building in Buenos Aires, it appears that we are on the threshold of a new development after three decades of ambiguity and deviation” (note the exchange of words “Israelite” for “Zionist” when referring to the AMIA, which is the acronym for Asociación de Mutuales Israelitas Argentinas). It argued that the attack was an act of “self-harm of the Jews” or “revenge and punishment by Carlos Menem’s government against the Argentine Zionists” (why would Argentine Jews have wanted to destroy their main community center or would President Menen have wanted to punish Argentines of Jewish faith is left to the reader’s imagination). The editorial proceeded to suggest that Israel was behind the move and speculated on its motives: “During the past nine months, the Zionist regime has lost all its prestige in the world, including Latin America. Therefore, the Zionist regime is trying to restore its lost reputation by accusing the resistance forces and the axis of resistance, including Hamas and the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Regarding the AMIA case,” it added, “over the past 30 years, Iran has always patiently endured the accusations […] Unfortunately, instead of looking for credible and reliable partners for the economic salvation of its country and restoring the traditional position of Iran in its business relations, the Argentine government has been placed at the frontline of the anti-Iran scenario of the international Zionist network.” Finally, it concluded with a veiled threat: “Undoubtedly, Tehran will not forget the anti-Iranian policies of Buenos Aires. But Iran has shown that it does not easily play on the enemy’s chess board, but at the right time and right position, it will impose its own game on the enemy and make them regret their enmity with Iran.”

The Argentine government rejected this uncivilized editorial. “No one threatens Argentina,” said Defense Minister Luis Petri. “The terrorism of that tragic October 7 is exactly the same that attacked us three decades ago. There is no difference,” pointed out President Milei. Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said that “Iranians, who continue to live in their country and are civil servants, must pay for what they did… An attack has consequences.” And Vice President Victoria Villarruel dismissed the threat by saying that “those who commit attacks with deeds will also attempt to terrorize the population with words.”

The Iranian regime is frustrated with Argentina’s new pro-Western global positioning, after “the ineffectiveness of Mr. Fernández’s left-wing government” (as The Tehran Times editorial put it) led to the rise of the libertarian Milei. However, it is likely that its anger with Buenos Aires is not only due to the designation of Hamas as a terrorist group, but also to the official decision to promote the project of holding a trial in absentia against the Lebanese and Iranian perpetrators who attacked Argentina in 1994.

It is a good thing that the Argentine government has not allowed itself to be intimidated by a threatening and complaining newspaper editorial controlled by tyrannical clerics in Iran. The next step should be the breaking of diplomatic relations with Tehran, an action that incomprehensibly was not taken thirty years ago.