Pompeo Vows to Maintain US Pressure on Iran Over Past Terrorist Outrages in Argentina and Bulgaria
by Algemeiner Staff
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo affirmed over the weekend that the US government was continuing to exert “maximum pressure on Iran” to bring to justice the operatives behind past terrorist atrocities in Argentina and Bulgaria.
“Today marks the anniversaries of two attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah,” Pompeo tweeted on Saturday.
Today marks the anniversaries of two attacks by Iran-backed Hizballah. We mourn with those who lost loved ones at the hands of terrorism in Argentina in 1994 and Bulgaria in 2012. The U.S. continues to exert maximum pressure on Tehran. All responsible nations must join us. pic.twitter.com/O89j029nnG
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) July 18, 2020
Eighty-five people were murdered and more than 300 wounded on July 18, 1994, when a truck laden with explosive was driven by a Hezbollah terrorist into the building housing the AMIA Jewish center in downtown Buenos Aires.
On exactly the same date in 2012, a suicide bomber blew up a bus in the Bulgarian resort city of Burgas on the Black Sea, killing five Israeli tourists along with the Bulgarian bus driver. Dozens more were wounded.
“We mourn with those who lost loved ones at the hands of terrorism in Argentina in 1994 and Bulgaria in 2012,” Pompeo declared. “The US continues to exert maximum pressure on Tehran. All responsible nations must join us.”
In recent years, several Latin American nations have taken steps to counter Hezbollah’s growing presence on the continent, where the Lebanese-based terrorist group engages in illicit activities such as gun-running, narcotics trafficking and money-laundering.
Argentina formally designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization on July 18 last year, to mark the 25th anniversary of the AMIA atrocity.