The 1994 AMIA bombing killed 85 people and remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentine history, attributed to Iran and Hezbollah.
Key Facts
- Deaths
- 85 people
- Injured
- Over 300 people
- Date
- 18 July 1994
- Attack method
- Bomb-laden van suicide attack
- Argentine Jewish community (1994)
- 200,000 — largest in Latin America
- Judge removed
- Juan José Galeano impeached in August 2005
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Argentine prosecutors alleged that Iran ordered the attack after Buenos Aires suspended a nuclear technology transfer contract with Tehran, though this has been disputed since the contract was never formally terminated and bilateral negotiations continued into 1994. Hezbollah is accused of executing the operation on Iran's behalf.
On 18 July 1994, a bomb-laden van was driven into the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires and detonated in a suicide attack. The explosion killed 85 people and injured more than 300, destroying the building and making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentine history.
The investigation was marred by accusations of cover-up; all suspects in the local connection were acquitted in 2004, and the presiding judge was impeached in 2005. In 2024, an Argentine court formally ruled that Iran directed the attack and that Hezbollah carried it out, also designating Iran a terrorist state.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
2 belligerents
Side B
1 belligerent
Alberto Nisman (prosecutor), Marcelo Martínez Burgos (prosecutor).