Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called on the Obama Administration to press for a thorough and impartial international investigation into the death of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman and serious allegations of Argentina’s collusion with Iran.   

In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Royce wrote:  “The Administration should press for a thorough and impartial international investigation into his death, and the serious allegations of Argentine collusion with Iran that Nisman was poised to unveil before the Argentine legislature just hours before his body was found.”

The signed letter is available HERE.

The text of the letter follows:

January 23, 2015

The Honorable John F. Kerry
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Kerry,

I write to express my deep concern surrounding the sudden death this week of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman.  The Administration should press for a thorough and impartial international investigation into his death, and the serious allegations of Argentine collusion with Iran that Nisman was poised to unveil before the Argentine legislature just hours before his body was found.

As you know, a decade ago Alberto Nisman was tasked by the late President Nestor Kirchner to investigate the 1994 suicide bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires. The attack killed 85 people in one of the deadliest anti-Semitic acts since World War II.

Mr. Nisman’s investigations uncovered a web of corruption, impunity, and the irrefutable hand of the Iranian regime and its proxy Hezbollah in the 1994 bombing.  However, neither Iran nor Hezbollah have been held accountable for this horrific act. In fact, Nisman’s latest allegations point to a conspiracy at the highest levels of the Argentine government to cover up Iran’s involvement in the bombing as part of a deal to trade Argentine grain for Iranian oil.

As negotiations with Tehran continue, we must not forget Iran’s clear, long-standing commitment to obtaining a nuclear capability at all cost—an effort which once benefited from Argentinean cooperation. We must also not ignore Iran’s continued use of proxies, such as Hezbollah, to perpetrate terror worldwide.    As one analyst, Thomas Joscelyn, recently wrote, “For Nisman, the AMIA bombing was not a one-off event. It was part of a decades-long pattern of Iranian behavior.”

Assigning an independent, international panel to examine Nisman’s evidence of Iranian involvement in the 1994 terrorist attack and Argentinian collusion in its cover-up would be a major step toward finding his killer and finally bringing the perpetrators of this deadly terrorist attack to justice.

Sincerely,

EDWARD R. ROYCE
Chairman

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