January 18, 2026 | Article on X (formerly Twitter) | Toby Dershowitz | @TobyDersh
Alberto Nisman was murdered 11 years ago today for doing his job investigating and prosecuting Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, as affirmed by Argentina’s public prosecutor’s office.
Nisman found that the highest levels of the Islamic Republic of Iran plotted the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center on August 14, 1993, in the city of Mashhad. Some of those who conceived and approved the attack hold office today, including Supreme Leader Ali Khameini and Ahmad Vahidi, recently named deputy head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IRGC continues to export terrorism around the world and oppresses the Iranian people at home.
Nisman was about to brief Argentina’s Congress on his findings that then-president Cristina Kirchner sought to cover up Iran’s role in the bombing, but he was found dead in his apartment the day before he was to share with lawmakers what he had shared the prior Wednesday with Judge Ariel Lijo. Did this make Kirchner and her cronies anxious?
Last year, on the anniversary of his death, Argentina’s president @JMilei described Nisman’s death an “assassination at the hands of the darkest forces of power” and affirmed his commitment to see the case prosecuted further. On September 3, 2025, Milei directly accused “Kirchnerism” of being responsible for the death of Nisman, saying, “If they have to take human lives, they don’t care; they got rid of Nisman.”
Former officials have been accused of creating, participating in, or covering up irregularities in the investigation of his death. Viviana Fein, the original prosecutor in charge of the investigation, was accused by federal prosecutor Taiano of withholding evidence and obstructing justice. Sergio Berni, former Security Secretary for Argentina, was also accused by prosecutor Taiano of irregularities and obstructing the investigation at the scene. Diego Lagomarsino, a computer technician, was named an accomplice in the homicide.
There was a suspicious fire at the Casa Rosada on January 15, 2015, which reportedly destroyed electronic records and logs of visitors to the presidential palace shortly after Nisman filed his criminal complaint against Kirchner and others and hours before he was found dead.
Nisman’s case against Kirchner for her alleged attempt to cover up Iran’s role in the AMIA bombing is in the hands of prosecutor Eduard Taiano and is winding its way through the courts.
Nisman’s granular investigation that exposed how the Islamic Republic recruits, radicalizes and executes terrorism continues to be a roadmap for counter-terrorism professionals around the globe. It no doubt played a role in President Milei designating the IRGC’s Quds Force as a terrorist entity yesterday. The designation makes members of the Quds Force and their allies subject to financial sanctions and operational restrictions.
Milei underscored that he maintains an “unbreakable commitment to recognizing terrorists for what they are.” Under his leadership, Argentina placed Hamas on its terrorism list on July 12, 2024.
The Quds Force designation takes place as the Islamic Republic has killed thousands of protestors from every province of Iran in recent weeks. The regime has cut off internet to hide these crimes but reports and images have leaked out.
In April 2024, Argentina’s highest criminal court officially designated the 1994 AMIA bombing a “crime against humanity” and explicitly held the government of Iran and Hezbollah responsible for its planning and execution.
The Venezuela connection to the AMIA bombing investigation may be noteworthy: it revolves around allegations that then Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez served as a key intermediary in a covert deal between Iran and Argentina to cover up Iran’s involvement in the 1994 attack. According to reports from three former Venezuelan government officials cited in Veja, Chávez met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on January 13, 2007, during which Ahmadinejad requested Chávez’s help in persuading the Argentine government under Kirchner to provide nuclear technology to Iran and to cease cooperating with Interpol on arresting Iranian suspects linked to the AMIA bombing.
In exchange, Iran provided Kirchner’s 2007 presidential campaign with millions of dollars funneled through Venezuelan channels, including a documented incident where a Venezuelan-American businessman was caught allegedly attempting to smuggle $800,000 into Argentina—funds purportedly originating from Iran and brokered by Chávez.
Iranian networks in Latin America, as detailed in Nisman’s 2013 indictment, included terrorist infrastructure in Venezuela and neighboring countries, where Iran allegedly created sleeper cells and recruitment operations.
Kirchner is serving a six-year prison sentence under house arrest for her role in a separate corruption case. Several other cases against her are pending.
As Nisman’s family and victims of the AMIA bombing await justice, one can’t help but appreciate that his life’s work uncovering and exposing the Islamic Republic’s use of terrorism as a weapon of its governance and foreign policy have been fully vindicated. Governments around the world have taken important steps by sanctioning the Islamic Republic of Iran’s domestic institutions and individuals responsible for the regime’s malign activities at home and abroad. Many of its proxies have also been designated terrorist entities. While a lot more needs to be done, Alberto Nisman paved an important path to make this possible.