The Argentine government and members of Bolivia’s opposition on Monday demanded answers following the sealing of an opaque defense agreement between Iran and Bolivia that raised concerns in South America’s Southern Cone that it could be a way for Tehran to boost its influence in the region.
The deal reached on Wednesday last week has particularly raised concerns in Argentina, where prosecutors have long alleged that Iranian officials were behind the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. Iran has denied any involvement in the attack.
The Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday sent a note to the Bolivian embassy in Buenos Aires “requesting information about the scope of the discussions and possible agreements reached during the official visit of [Bolivian] Minister [of Defense] Edmundo Novillo to the Islamic Republic of Iran,” a ministry official said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.
Photo: AP
The note from Argentina’s diplomatic headquarters came on the same day as members of Bolivia’s opposition submitted a written request to the government demanding information about the scope of the agreement.
“The defense minister must explain the agreement and why it has been signed with a country that has complications on the international stage when Bolivia is supposed to be pacifist according to its constitution,” said Gustavo Aliaga, a Bolivian opposition lawmaker who is the secretary of the Defense and Armed Forces Committee in the Chamber of Deputies.
Iranian Minister of Defense Mohammad Reza Ashtiani signed the defense and security memorandum of understanding with Novillo in Tehran, a report by Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said.
“The Iranian minister said Latin American countries are of special significance in Iran’s foreign and defense policy based on the importance of very sensitive South American region,” it said.
Novillo has yet to give any details on the agreement since returning to Bolivia over the weekend.
“All I know is what the press publishes,” Aliaga said.
“They say that [Iran] will give us drones. Others say they will give us missiles. All of this sounds strange, even more so considering it involves Iran,” he said. “I can’t understand why Bolivia is getting involved in such a complex and difficult relationship.”
Bolivian Senator Leonardo Loza, who is aligned with the ruling Movement Toward Socialism party, praised the agreement.
“The country has the right to sign these agreements. The United States is the most dangerous country, and Bolivia has the right to sign agreements with other nations,” said Loza, who is secretary of the Senate’s Security Committee.
Iran could be seeking to sell drones to Bolivia, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said, adding that Ashtiani had said Tehran could help Bolivia with controlling its borders and combating drug smuggling.
“Iran has sought to increase the number of countries that buy Iranian drones in recent years,” the institute wrote in a report.
The agreement comes at a time when Iran has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the government of Bolivian President Luis Arce in Bolivia has refused to condemn Moscow at the UN General Assembly.
Argentina demanded explanations from La Paz after the DAIA, an organization representing the country’s Jewish community, warned of the “risks for the security of Argentina and the region” due to the agreement, noting Tehran’s ties to Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.
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