The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on a senior Hezbollah operative it claimed coordinated the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires, in which 85 people died.
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In a statement, the State Department also offered a US$7 million reward for information on the whereabouts of Salman Raouf Salman, also known as Samuel Salman El Reda, who it said helped plan and carry out the attack in Argentina.
The announcement follows the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Buenos Aires for a regional security conference. During his visit, Pompeo will highlight the risks posed by Hezbollah, U.S. officials said. The Iran-backed, heavily armed Shi'ite group is part of Lebanon's coalition government.
The conservative Argentinian government on Thursday designated Hezbollah, which it blames for the attack on the Jewish community center and an attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 that killed 29 people.
The bombing, the deadliest in Argentina’s history, shook the South American country.
Investigations have never uncovered who was responsible, though local courts have blamed the attack on Iran and the guerrilla group, Hezbollah, for the bombing in 2006. However, both have strongly denied these allegations as baseless.