Israel has ordered the temporary closure of all its embassies, including in Argentina, after a comprehensive attack on Iran’s nuclear and military sites on Thursday night. After the attack, in which military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians were killed, Iran retaliated with missile strikes on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The hostilities broke out just after Argentine President Javier Milei left Israel, where he stated that Argentina would move its embassy to West Jerusalem in 2026. Jerusalem is home to holy sites of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, and is claimed by both Palestine and Israel.

The tension between the two countries has caused trepidation in Argentina, where two terrorist attacks against Israel and the Jewish community in the 1990s left lasting scars.

A staunch supporter of Israel, Milei defended the operation in a speech in Madrid.

“Israel accepts that other countries exist, but Iran does not accept that Israel exists,” he said. “If there is one people that has learned what freedom is, it’s the Jewish people. And it’s interesting to say that on a day like today,” he added.

‘No specific threat’

The Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires emphasized that its closure was part of a global decision by the Israeli foreign ministry, and that emergency consular phone lines would continue to operate.

“There is no specific threat to the embassy here in Argentina, not that we know and not that the Argentine authorities know, but it’s a precautionary measure around the world,” said Adam Levene, chargé d’affaires at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.

Ambassador Eyal Sela traveled to Israel for Milei’s visit and remains there because air travel has been interrupted by the conflict.

Levene said that the decision to close Israel’s embassies had been taken “because we’re talking about a conflict with a terrorist regime, as we very well know here in Argentina, which has had a history of bombing Israeli embassies.”

The AMIA and the embassy

Argentina has suffered two major terrorist attacks targeting Israel and the Jewish community. In 1992, a bombing at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires killed 22 people. Two years later, 85 people were killed and 300 wounded in the bombing attack of the Argentine–Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA), a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

The perpetrators of the attacks were never brought to justice, with the investigation into the AMIA bombing marred by corruption and a cover-up attempt. However, senior figures in Argentina’s judicial and political circles have blamed Iran for the attacks. 

“I think on a psychological level everyone here is very sensitive to the issue because of the history here, but experience with Iran around the world is that it has not made a big difference to them,” Levene said. “They have carried out terror attacks in countries that actually have very good relations with them.”

During her second presidential term, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signed a document with the Iranian government that would have enabled Argentine prosecutors to interrogate Iranian citizens who were allegedly involved in the bombing. This agreement, known as the Memorandum with Iran, was blasted as an impunity pact, and a lawsuit was filed against Kirchner. The case is due to go to trial.

The Herald contacted the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires for comment on the current conflict but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a statement after Israel’s strike that he condemned “the Zionist regime’s criminal aggression in the strongest possible terms” and accused Israel of terrorism.

The attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dubbed the attack “Operation Rising Lion” in a recorded statement. He called it “a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival” and said it would “continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”

The strikes on Tehran claimed the lives of several civilians and top military commanders, and at least six nuclear scientists, according to Tasnim, an Iranian news agency associated with the main branch of the country’s armed forces, the Revolutionary Guard. The country’s U.N. ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded.

“The Zionist regime has made a big mistake, a grave error, and committed a reckless act. By God’s grace, the consequences of this will bring that regime to ruin,” Iran’s Supreme Leader, Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei posted on X. Iran’s retaliatory attack, which consisted of nearly 100 missiles, injured 41 people, according to the Israeli national emergency service.

Israel’s attack came during negotiations between the U.S. and the Iranian governments over a new nuclear deal to limit the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear program in return for relieving economic sanctions. Both countries, plus the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and the European Union, had already signed such a deal in 2015 — but Donald Trump withdrew in 2018, during his first administration, accusing Iran of pursuing the development of nuclear weapons.

In April, the New York Times reported that Trump talked Israel out of attacking Iran last week.

In a Friday post on Truth Social, Trump said he “gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal” and that he had warned that, if they failed to reach an agreement, Israel would attack them using U.S. weapons, which he called “the most lethal military equipment anywhere in the world.”

“Certain Iranian hardliner’s (sic) spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!” he added. “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire.”

Amy Booth contributed reporting