III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 156 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2009 

Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Condemning the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community 

Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 1994, and 

for other purposes. 

Whereas, on July 18, 1994, 85 people were killed and 300 

were wounded when the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) was bombed in Buenos Aires, Argentina; 

Whereas extensive evidence links the planning of the attacks 

to the Government of Iran, and the execution of the attacks to Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, supported 

by Syria, sponsored by Iran, and 


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designated by the Department of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization; 

Whereas, on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina, an office created by the Government of Argentina, concluded that the AMIA bombing was ‘‘decided 

and organized by the highest leaders of the former government of * * * Iran, whom, at the same time, entrusted its execution to the Lebanese terrorist group 

Hezbollah’’; 

Whereas, on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina concluded that the AMIA bombing had been approved in advance by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali 

Khamene’i, Iran’s then-leader Ali Akbar Hashemi 

Rafsanjani, Iran’s then-Foreign Minister Ali Akbar 

Velayati, and Iran’s then-Minister of Security and Intelligence Ali Fallahijan; 

Whereas, on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina stated that the Government of Iran uses ‘‘terrorism as a mechanism of its foreign policy’’ in support 

of ‘‘its final aim [which] is to export its radicalized vision 

of Islam and to eliminate the enemies of the regime’’; 

Whereas, on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina identified Ibrahim Hussein Berro, a Lebanese 

citizen and member of Hezbollah, as the suicide bomber 

who primarily carried out the attack on the AMIA; 

Whereas, on November 9, 2006, Argentine Judge Rodolfo 

Canicoba Corral, pursuant to the request of the State 

Prosecutor of Argentina, issued an arrest warrant for Ali 

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former leader of Iran and 

the current chairman of Iran’s Assembly of Experts and 

of Iran’s Expediency Council, for his involvement in the 


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AMIA bombing and urged the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) to issue an international 

arrest warrant for Rafsanjani and detain him; 

Whereas, on November 9, 2006, Argentine Judge Rodolfo 

Canicoba Corral, pursuant to the request of the State 

Prosecutor of Argentina, also issued arrest warrants for 

Ali Fallahijan, a former Iranian Minister of Security and 

Intelligence, Ali Akbar Velayati, a former Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander of 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), 

Ahmad Vahidi, a former commander of the elite Al-Quds 

Force of the IRGC, Hadi Soleimanpour, a former Iranian 

ambassador to Argentina, Mohsen Rabbani, a former cultural attache ́ at the Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires, 

Ahmad Reza Asghari, a former official at the Iranian 

Embassy in Buenos Aires, and Imad Moughnieh, a leading operations chief of Hezbollah; 

Whereas, on March 5, 2007, the Executive Committee of 

INTERPOL unanimously supported the issuance of Red 

Notices for Hezbollah operative Imad Moughnieh and for 

Iranian officials Ali Fallahijan, Mohsen Rezaei, Ahmad 

Vahidi, Mohsen Rabbani, and Ahmad Reza Asgari, thereby allowing arrest warrants for those individuals to be 

circulated worldwide with an eye to their arrest and extradition; 

Whereas, on November 7, 2007, the General Assembly of 

INTERPOL upheld the Executive Committee’s decision 

to support the issuance of six Red Notices in connection 

to the AMIA case; 

Whereas, on February 12, 2008, Hezbollah operative Imad 

Moughnieh reportedly was killed in Syria; 


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Whereas in June of 2008, the Government of Saudi Arabia 

hosted an international Muslim conference that was reportedly attended by Iranian officials Ali Akbar Hashemi 

Rafsanjani, against whom an Argentine arrest warrant 

has been issued, and Mohsen Rezaei, against whom both 

an Argentine arrest warrant and INTERPOL Red Notice 

have been issued; 

Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia reportedly made no 

attempt to detain or arrest Ali Akbar Hashemi 

Rafsanjani or Mohsen Rezaei during their time in Saudi 

Arabia, and the two departed Saudi Arabia without incident; 

Whereas, on May 22, 2008, Argentine prosecutor Alberto 

Nisman filed a request with Argentine Judge Ariel Lijo 

for the arrest of Carlos Saul Menem, who was president 

of Argentina at the time of the AMIA bombing, and four 

other former Argentine high officials in connection with 

the AMIA case; 

Whereas Mr. Nisman claimed in his request for an arrest 

warrant that Menem and the other four officials had attempted to cover up the involvement of a Syrian-Argentine businessman, Alberto Jacinto Kanoore Edul, in the 

AMIA bombing; 

Whereas Argentine investigators have stated that prior to the 

AMIA bombing, Mr. Kanoore Edul was in contact with 

at least two men who have been identified as suspects in 

the AMIA case; 

Whereas, on December 16, 2008, at the AMIA Special Prosecutor’s request, the presiding Argentine judge in a civil 

suit against the Iranian suspects and Hezbollah ordered 

the attachment of six commercial properties in Argentina 


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allegedly owned by former Iran cultural attache ́ and 

named suspect Mohsen Rabbani; 

Whereas in December of 2008, the judge also requested that 

select European governments freeze up to $1 million in 

bank accounts allegedly belonging to former Iranian leader Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and another Iranian 

accused of involvement in the attacks; 

Whereas between October of 2008 and March of 2009, nearly 

a dozen Iranian properties have reportedly been seized in 

the Buenos Aires area in connection with a civil suit presented by an unnamed survivor of the AMIA bombing; 

Whereas in May of 2009, former IRGC commander Mohsen 

Rezaei, against whom both an Argentine arrest warrant 

and an INTERPOL Red Notice have been issued, announced his intention to seek the leadership of Iran; 

Whereas in May 2009, Argentina issued an international arrest warrant for Samuel Salman El Reda, a Colombian 

citizen of Lebanese descent who Argentine prosecutor 

Alberto Nisman believes was the top local connection in 

the AMIA attack; 

Whereas Mr. Nisman believes El Reda had connections to 

Hezbollah and the Tri-Border area, a zone between Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil suspected of being a haven 

for Islamic radical groups; 

Whereas during the past several years, the Government of 

Argentina has made significant advances in the AMIA investigation and other counter-terrorism efforts; 

Whereas the issuance of an Argentine arrest warrant for an 

attache ́ of the Iranian Embassy in Argentina in connection with the AMIA case, indicates that Iran has used its 


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embassies abroad as tools and extensions of radical 

Islamist goals and attacks; 

Whereas, on January 27, 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert 

Gates said, ‘‘I’m concerned about the level of * * * subversive activity that the Iranians are carrying on in a 

number of places in Latin America * * * They’re opening 

a lot of offices and a lot of fronts, behind which they 

interfere in what is going on in some of these countries.’’; 

and 

Whereas, on March 17, 2009, Navy Admiral James Stavridis, 

Commander, United States Southern Command, indicated that he shared Secretary Gates’s concern, explaining ‘‘We have seen * * * an increase in a wide level of 

activity by the Iranian government in this region * * * 

That is a concern principally because of the connections 

between the government of Iran, which is a state sponsor 

of terrorism, and Hezbollah’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) reiterates its strongest condemnation of the 

4 1994 attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Asso5 ciation (AMIA) Jewish Community Center in Bue6 nos Aires, Argentina, honors the victims of this at7 tack, and expresses its sympathy to the relatives of 

8 the victims; 

9 (2) applauds the Government of Argentina for 

10 its ongoing efforts in the AMIA bombing investiga11 tion; 


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1 (3) urges the Government of Argentina to con2 tinue to dedicate and provide the resources nec3 essary for its judicial system and intelligence agen4 cies to investigate all areas of the AMIA case and 

5 to prosecute those responsible; 

6 (4) expresses grave concern regarding the Gov7 ernment of Saudi Arabia’s failure, when given the 

8 opportunity, to detain Iranian officials against whom 

9 Argentine arrest warrants or INTERPOL Red No10 tices are pending in connection with the AMIA case; 

11 (5) urges all responsible nations to cooperate 

12 fully with the AMIA investigation, including by mak13 ing information, witnesses, and suspects available 

14 for review and questioning by the appropriate Ar15 gentine authorities, and by detaining and extraditing 

16 to Argentina, if given the opportunity, any persons 

17 against whom Argentine arrest warrants or 

18 INTERPOL Red Notices are pending in connection 

19 with the AMIA case, including Iranian officials and 

20 former officials, Hezbollah operatives, and Islamist 

21 militants; 

22 (6) encourages the President to direct United 

23 States law enforcement agencies to provide support 

24 and cooperation to the Government of Argentina, if 

25 requested, for the purposes of deepening and exVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:10 Jul 21, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC156.RFS HC156

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1 panding the investigation into the AMIA bombing; 

2 and 

3 (7) urges governments in the Western Hemi4 sphere, who have not done so already, to draft, 

5 adopt, and implement legislation designating 

6 Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, banning fund7 raising and recruitment activities, and applying the 

8 harshest penalties on those providing support for ac9 tivities involving Hezbollah and other such extremist 

10 groups. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 17, 2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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