The recent ruling of the Argentine justice that orders to judge in absentee to ten Iranian and Lebanese citizens for the attack against AMIA in 1994 represents a historical advance in the search for justice; It will also trigger geopolitical and security consequences that the country cannot afford to ignore.
Argentina was the target of international terrorism when they will, through Hezbollah, executed two attacks in Buenos Aires: the blasting of the Israel Embassy in 1992 and the attack on the AMIA building in 1994. Both crimes left a total balance of more than 100 dead and hundreds of injured. To this is added the murder of prosecutor Alberto Nisman in 2015, which occurred on the eve of his testimony before Congress, in which he denounced the alleged cover -up of the Iranian role in those attacks. Although this last case was not formally attributed to Iran, the temporary coincidence and the context fueled for years founded suspicions.
Today, after the humiliation suffered by Iran in the recent American offensive on its nuclear facilities, the regime is limited in its direct response possibilities. However, it has an extensive network of agents, supporters and clandestine resources in Latin America that has cultivated for decades. From the provision of Venezuelan passports to Iranian citizens to the presence of financing and logistics cells on the triple border and in areas such as Iquique, Margarita and Colón, there is an infrastructure available for repressive purposes.
The trial in absence, although fair and legitimate, will not go unnoticed for Tehran. Far from being in a symbolic dimension, threatens to expose the direct link between Iranian officials and one of the worst attacks in the history of Latin America. It is expected, then, that the regime considers this process as a provocation or as a reputational threat. In that scenario, it is reasonable to anticipate reprisals. Where? There are three logical targets: the Argentine Jewish community, the judges and prosecutors involved in the process, and eventually the state infrastructure linked to the judicial system or international cooperation in intelligence.
Argentina must anticipate. And for this they do not reach traditional security measures. It is essential to deploy modern tools for detection and prevention of threats, in particular through artificial intelligence. Today there are systems capable of analyzing communications, movement patterns, social networks and financial operations through algorithms that identify suspicious behaviors even before an action is completed. In turn, this tool links weak and scattered signals that, seen in isolation, would go unnoticed by a human analyst.
This trial marks a before and after. It is an act of judicial sovereignty that honors the victims, but also an undercover warning to those who threaten memory and truth. So that there are no new victims, Argentina needs to be one step ahead. Intelligence, protection and technology should be part of a comprehensive defense strategy. It is not a matter of paranoia, but of intelligent prevention.
Things as they are
Mookie Tenembouum addresses international issues like this every week with Horacio Cabak in his podcast The international observeravailable in Spotify, Apple, YouTube and all platforms.
