A bomb scare near the Israeli embassy in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, reportedly resulted in the expulsion of an Iranian diplomat. Photo: WikiCommons.

JNS.org – Uruguay has expelled a senior Iranian diplomat over a partial explosion last month near a building where the Israeli embassy is located in Montevideo.

On Jan. 8, a small improvised explosive device was found outside of a building housing the Israeli embassy. Police forces found that the device had partly detonated. The building was evacuated and the device was neutralized.

According to Haaretz, an investigation carried out by Uruguay’s intelligence services pointed to the possible involvement of the Iranian embassy. After the Uruguayan government confronted the Iranian government for information on the explosion, the two countries agreed to expel one of the senior diplomats at the Iranian embassy.

Uruguayan officials then updated Jerusalem about the expulsion. While the explosive device was far from the building, security officials believe it constituted either an attempt to harm the embassy or test its security preparedness.

Iran and its terror proxies have long been active in South America, including their involvement in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, which has garnered fresh headlines of late over the mysterious death of an Argentine prosecutor investigating the bombing.