US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington was backing Argentina in its call for Iran to extradite the suspects in 1994 AMIA bombing. "Argentina and the United States cooperate closely in the fight against terrorism," Clinton said at a joint press conference with Argentine FM Héctor Timerman. "Argentina, of course, has been a victim of terrorist attacks on its own soil, and we support Argentina's pursuit of justice for those tragic and deplorable acts," she added.
Argentina has issued warrants for the arrest of Iranian Defense Minister Ahmed Vahidi and five other Iranians, as well as a Lebanese national, for planning and carrying out the bombing of the AMIA, which claimed the lives of 85 people.
In January, the United States showed it was ready to help Argentina prosecute the suspects in the attack, through its Embassy in Buenos Aires. The AMIA center was the second anti-Semitic terror attack in Argentina, coming two years after a car bombing destroyed the Israeli Embassy. Twenty-two people died in that attack, and 200 were wounded.
