Since Javier Milei took office as Argentina's president in December 2023, there has been increased focus on national security, especially regarding potential threats from Iran through its alliances with Bolivia and Venezuela.
Argentina has a complex history with Iran, especially following the 1992 Israeli embassy and the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, which has left a legacy of vigilance against Iranian activities in the region.
Iran has significantly strengthened its ties with Bolivia and Venezuela over recent years. In Bolivia, the relationship deepened during Evo Morales' presidency and has continued under President Luis Arce.
This cooperation has included multiple bilateral agreements, particularly in defense and security, resulting in Iran providing drones and other military equipment to Bolivia under the guise of commercial exchanges. These moves are seen as a strategic effort by Iran to establish a foothold in Latin America, potentially facilitating the movement of its operatives.
Threat to Argentina
The Argentine government has expressed concerns about the potential introduction of Iranian agents into the country via Bolivia and Venezuela. Iran has been using these countries as bases to conduct activities linked to terrorism and drug trafficking. This includes the alleged provision of Bolivian passports to Iranians with fake identities, enabling them to operate across Latin America. Such activities are primarily facilitated through Iran's Quds Force and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security.
Bolivia and Iran, under President Luis Arce, signed a formal defense pact in July 2023, extending the 2012 La Paz bilateral agreement signed by Evo Morales and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which included security cooperation. The deal was said to include an Iranian pledge to provide Bolivia with drones for narcotics enforcement. The terms, however, were secretive, prompting both Argentina and the Bolivian opposition to demand clarity on the details.
This cooperation has included multiple bilateral agreements, particularly in defense and security under the guise of commercial exchanges. These moves are viewed as a strategic effort by Iran to expand its foothold in Latin America, potentially facilitating the movement of its operatives.
Argentina has stepped up the breadth of its security, particularly at the border to the north, with Bolivia. The government has heightened surveillance and border controls to prevent the infiltration of Iranian agents. This move follows the broader strategy of ensuring that the country's security apparatus is robust against any covert operations that might be directed from Iran through its Latin American allies.
“We have Hezbollah cells on the Triple Border. But it is on the Bolivian border where we see the highest level of alert and security in the country, because there has been a memorandum signed by Bolivia and Iran,” Patricia Bullrich, Argentina's minister of security said in an interview with La Nación. “That pact allowed the presence of Iranian members of the Quds forces, which are combatant forces and are integrated into Iran’s armed branches, in the territory. We are investigating whether there are people who do not speak Spanish yet have Bolivian passports.” she added.
The country has formally requested from Interpol to arrest Iran’s interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, for his alleged role in the attack that claimed 85 lives. Argentina has taken a significant step in its pursuit of justice for the victims of the 1992 Israeli embassy and 1994 bombing of AMIA - a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.
Argentina draws the line in the sand
Several days before Tehran’s April 13th drone and missile attack on Israel, Javier Milei’s administration announced that it has placed its borders on alert considering the likely infiltration of Iranian and Hezbollah operatives into Argentina. There have long been concerns about a Hezbollah presence in the Triborder Region where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet. But Interior Minister Patricia Bullrich’s announcement this time emphasized an apparent threat from Bolivia.
Then, following Tehran’s drone and missile attack on Israel, a statement condemning the attack was issued by Milei’s press team that read: “The office of President Javier Milei expresses its solidarity and unwavering commitment to the State of Israel following the attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran.” It adds that the new administration in Argentina has adopted a new foreign policy based on the “defense of Western values” such as “life, freedom, and private property” and “strongly supports the State of Israel in the defense of its sovereignty, especially against regimes that promote terror and seek to destroy western civilization.”
According to recent reports, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has sent armored carriers, light tanks, missile-equipped patrol boats, and military troops to the Guyanese border, in the Essequibo region, controlled by Guyana, in an apparent threat to take two-thirds of the smaller neighboring country's national territory by force.
An understanding between Venezuela’s Maduro and Guyanese President Irfaan Ali was signed in December of 2023, which rebuked the use of force.
Now, following recent overflights by US F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets over Guyana, Venezuela has mobilized troops towards the disputed border Essequibo region and Venezuela’s threats to invade Guyana has escalated. While an initial analysis would focus on local implications, the projection of this conflict on the global stage reveals a clash between major powers; with the United States and its allies on one side, and an axis composed of Russia, China, and Iran on the other.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, Guyana’s most recent estimate of recoverable oil and natural gas resources is more than 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels, and developers are still exploring the country’s offshore waters. According to Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat, Guyana also boasts an impressive reserve of lithium and copper, gold, diamonds and other rare minerals.
Venezuela's Allies
Russia and China’s investments in Venezuela aside, the Islamic regime’s alliances and agreements with the South American dictatorship, especially in the military and energy fields, will see this conflict as an opportunity to strengthen its position against the United States.
Latin American Affairs expert, Mookie Tenembaum told Iran International: “If these tensions escalate into an armed conflict, the confrontation will become a global flashpoint where local interests clash, and global superpower strategies are involved.”
Tenembaum added that such a scenario will lead to an indirect confrontation between the US-led bloc and the Russia-China-Iran axis, each seeking to expand its influence and protect its strategic interests in Latin America. “Therefore, the potential conflict between Venezuela and Guyana should be considered not only in the context of a territorial dispute but also as a possible catalyst for global confrontation. The international community, including organizations such as the United Nations and the International Court of Justice, plays a crucial role in mediating these tensions to avoid an escalation that could have much broader and severe repercussions.”
Patterns
Between November 2014 and June 2015, three fake bombs were found outside of the Israeli Embassy in Montevideo, Uruguay. All were assumed by Uruguayan police to have been placed there by agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Analysts and officials in Latin America have often described Uruguay as a staging base for Iranian and Iranian-supported terrorist activities in the region.
On November 24, 2014, a suspicious-looking suitcase, thought to contain explosives, was discovered outside the Israeli embassy building in Montevideo, Uruguay. Upon controlled detonation, the police established that the device was fake. Uruguayan police viewed surveillance footage shot outside the embassy and discovered the car of an Iranian diplomat stationed at Iran’s embassy in Uruguay, Ahmed Sabatgold, parked right where the suitcase had been deposited.
Ahmed Sabatgold was reported as having a long history of public expressions of anti-Semitism as well as interference in Latin-American internal politics. Before coming to Uruguay, he had served at the Iranian embassy in Venezuela, where he was the official translator during the 2013 meetings between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He had openly criticized Uruguay’s President, Jose Mujica, and encouraged young Uruguayan converts to Islam to support the radical leftist political party, Unidad Popular. Sabatgold also denied the Holocaust, an assertion supported by his boss, the Iranian ambassador to Uruguay, Hojjatollah Soltani.
Uruguay’s Foreign Minister, Luis Almagro, summoned ambassador Soltani on December 10, 2014, to complain about the suitcase and warned the Islamic Republic’s representative that Uruguay would adopt “more severe measures should similar circumstances arise in the future.”
However, Ahmed Sabatgold, the alleged perpetrator, had left the country three days before the ambassador was summoned. Observers characterized his departure as fleeing the country before he could be charged with terrorism-related crimes. Almagro himself has come under question as to whether he honestly pursued Iran’s activities against Israel in Uruguay, due to his history of close relations with Iran. No reports on Sabatgold’s further activities have surfaced since his departure from Uruguay. Typically, it is entirely likely that Ahmad Sabatgold was not his real name.
The Israeli embassy changed locations in the aftermath of the suitcase incident; but on January 8, 2015, a realistic-looking fake bomb was discovered outside the new Israeli embassy building. The embassy was evacuated before Uruguayan police discovered that the device did not contain explosives. The Uruguayan police assumed the Islamic Republic of Iran was responsible, and that it was a repeat of what had occurred on November 24, 2014. No arrests were ever made in this case.
On June 17, 2015, another fake bomb was discovered outside the Israeli embassy. An embassy employee was arrested soon afterward but quickly released due to lack of evidence.
In October 2022, Argentine politician Elisa Carrio, recalling the 2015 Israeli embassy incidents along with the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish cultural center, stated that the "Iranian penetration in Latin America is based in Montevideo." Alberto Nisman, the Argentinian prosecutor who had investigated the AMIA attack, had repeatedly requested information from Uruguay about the activities of Iranian officials in the country. He was mysteriously murdered in July 2013.
Also, the same October, Uruguayan Senator Graciela Bianchi published documents linking suspected Iranian terrorists to properties in Montevideo.
