El gobierno de Irán repudió la decisión de la Justicia argentina de avanzar con un juicio en ausencia contra diez ciudadanos iraníes y libaneses acusados de haber planificado el atentado terrorista contra la AMIA en 1994, y calificó la medida como una “acción ilegal, politizada y contraria al derecho internacional”.

En un duro comunicado, señaló que Javier Milei está alineado con Israel y Estados Unidos en una “conspiración” para proteger a “funcionarios argentinos corruptos” que serían —según su visión— los verdaderos responsables del ataque.

Leé también: Milei se reúne con sus ministros para analizar el fallo de la justicia de EEUU por la expropiación de YPF

La declaración fue emitida por Issa Kameli, director general para América del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Irán y asistente del canciller. El funcionario exigió una “explicación oficial” por parte del gobierno argentino ante lo que consideró una “insistencia en acusaciones infundadas” y denunció que detrás del fallo del juez federal Daniel Rafecas se esconde una “maniobra hostil” destinada a deteriorar las relaciones bilaterales.

La respuesta iraní se produjo días después de que Rafecas resolviera que se juzgue en ausencia a los diez acusados —entre ellos exfuncionarios del régimen iraní y miembros de Hezbollah—, todos prófugos de la Justicia argentina desde hace casi dos décadas, bajo la nueva figura incorporada este año al Código Procesal Penal.

Leé también: Israel y Siria avanzan en conversaciones para cerrar un acuerdo histórico de seguridad

La medida, impulsada por la Unidad Fiscal AMIA, habilita por primera vez en la historia del país la realización de un juicio oral sin la presencia física de los imputados, en casos de terrorismo, crímenes de lesa humanidad u otros delitos graves.

“Las amplias desviaciones en el caso conocido como AMIA, incluyendo el encubrimiento sistemático de los hechos, la destrucción de pruebas, la negativa a implementar el memorando de entendimiento entre Irán y Argentina y el rechazo a cooperar judicialmente demuestran que este juicio es parte de un diseño político hostil influenciado por círculos sionistas”, señaló Kameli.

En el mismo sentido, criticó el fracaso de las autoridades argentinas para identificar a los autores “reales” del atentado, que dejó 85 muertos y más de 150 heridos.

Irán también acusó al gobierno de Milei de estar “comprometido con el régimen sionista genocida” y con Estados Unidos y aseguró que el juicio es parte de una estrategia para encubrir los crímenes de “exfuncionarios argentinos corruptos”. “Esta vil acción ocurre tras el fracaso del régimen sionista en su agresión militar contra la República Islámica de Irán y evidencia la alianza y complicidad del actual gobierno argentino con Israel”, insistió Kameli.

Leé también: Podrán volver a sus casas los habitantes de siete kibutz israelíes desalojados tras el brutal ataque de Hamas

En otro tramo del comunicado, el funcionario expresó su agradecimiento a los gobiernos de Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Brasil, Bolivia, Chile y Colombia por haber repudiado la reciente ofensiva militar contra Irán, y consideró que la postura de Argentina y Paraguay —a quienes acusó de respaldar los ataques de Estados Unidos e Israel— es “vergonzosa” y “repugnante”.

“Apoyar a un régimen ocupante y racista, que solo en los últimos dos años ha masacrado a casi 60.000 palestinos inocentes, no traerá ningún prestigio a sus defensores”, declaró el director general para América de la Cancillería iraní, al tiempo que afirmó que su país se reserva el derecho de adoptar “medidas firmes” para proteger a sus ciudadanos.

Leé también: La dura respuesta de Estados Unidos a Irán por las amenazas contra el argentino Rafael Grossi

La reacción iraní se produce en el marco de una causa judicial que acumula más de tres décadas de demoras, encubrimientos y fracasos, y que recientemente derivó en una condena internacional contra el Estado argentino por su deficiente investigación.

El juicio en ausencia —aún apelable— apunta contra diez acusados que tienen pedido de captura internacional desde 2006 pero nunca fueron detenidos, en su mayoría por residir en Irán, que se niega a extraditarlos. Entre ellos se encuentran el exministro de Inteligencia Alí Fallahijan, el excanciller Alí Akbar Velayati y el exjefe de la fuerza Al Quds Ahmad Vahidi, todos señalados como piezas clave en la planificación del ataque.

Democrats are taking a page from the conservative playbook.

A group of leading Democratic Party thinkers is beginning to collaborate on a policy agenda for their eventual presidential nominee in the 2028 election cycle. 

And, as first reported by the New York Times, they’re calling it Project 2029. It’s an obvious play on the notorious Project 2025, the more than 900-page policy blueprint assembled by the conservative powerhouse Heritage Foundation think tank for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominee.

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Democrats repeatedly attacked Project 2025 during the previous White House race as a far-right threat to the nation. Then-GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and his campaign distanced themselves from the document, even as many Trump allies helped draft it. 

But Trump, during the opening months of his second tour of duty in the White House, executed much of what was proposed in Project 2025. And Russell T. Vought, who was a key member of the team that produced the document, now leads the Office of Management and Budget.

Russell T. Vought, a key member of the team that produced Project 2025, now leads the Office of Management and Budget. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

The Democrats behind Project 2029 hope to rally White House hopefuls behind their policy framework as the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination race heats up following the 2026 midterm elections.

The project is being spearheaded by Andrei Cherny, a onetime Democratic speechwriter and state party leader.

«Avengers… Assemble!» he wrote in a social media post, as he spotlighted the New York Times story on Project 2029.

MAJORITY OF DEMOCRATS GIVE THEIR CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS THUMBS DOWN: POLL 

Democrats are aiming to escape the political wilderness following 2024 election setbacks, when the party lost control of the White House and the Senate, and failed to win back the House majority. And 2025 polls have indicated the Democratic Party brand sinking to new lows.

«After several Democratic presidential runs that featured the old guard, there is a hunger for the next generation of candidates and ideas,» Jim Kessler, executive vice president for policy at the center-left Third Way, told Fox News.

Kessler, who’s involved with the project, added that the effort «is a chance for those candidates to see and test out new policy ideas. The advisory group runs the gamut of the Democratic ideological perspective, so these new ideas may not bring a consensus, but it can act as a showroom for presidential candidates to test drive.»

The Democrats are aiming to escape the political wilderness following setbacks in the 2024 elections, when they lost control of the White House and Senate, and fell short in their bid to recapture the House majority. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville, asked about Project 2029, welcomed more ideas to the party’s conversation.

But Carville told Fox News Digital that «the person Democrats need to look to, whose ideas will count, is the next presidential nominee. People can throw ideas out and the different candidates can respond in one way or another, but the idea that a political party can develop a message outside of having some power – it’s been done before, but it’s quite difficult.»

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Word of Project 2029 comes amid continued divisions in the Democratic Party between its establishment and progressive wins.

And it comes as the stunning victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary by outsider and 33-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani over former three-term Gov. Andrew Cuomo has reignited the party’s argument over whether the Democrats’ problem is their policy or their messaging.

Iran’s foreign minister is vowing that «the doors of diplomacy will never slam shut» following the Trump administration’s airstrikes — a statement an Iran expert says shows that Tehran is trying to buy time. 

Abbas Araghchi was quoted as making the remark to CBS News after President Donald Trump told reporters last Wednesday that the U.S. would meet with Iranian officials this week. 

«I don’t think negotiations will restart as quickly as that,» Araghchi added. «In order for us to decide to reengage, we will have to first ensure that America will not revert back to targeting us in a military attack during the negotiations. And I think with all these considerations, we still need more time.»  

Behnam Ben Taleblu, the senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Iran Program, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that «Tehran’s strongest weapon when it is weak is actually diplomacy. 

EXILED IRANIAN PRINCE TELLS TRUMP HE CAN BE ‘ONE OF HISTORY’S GREAT PEACEMAKERS’ AMID TALK OF REGIME CHANGE 

«Negotiating to buy time and bail out the regime is an art form for Iranian political elites. Even when done from a position of weakness, one reason Tehran will not shut the door on talks is because it seeks to prevent widening military action from stiffening the spine of domestic dissidents at home. 

«No doubt, the Islamic Republic will cause a ruckus about engaging in negotiations post-strike, but ultimately agreeing to talk when it has been conventionally bested on the battlefield does mean its mission accomplished,» Taleblu added. 

The State Department did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Trump said following the conclusion of a NATO summit in the Netherlands last week that «I could get a statement» that Iran is «not going to go nuclear.» 

«We’re probably going to ask for that… but they’re not going to be doing it anyway. They’ve had it,» Trump added.  

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stands waiting to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for the talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, June 23, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

IRAN’S NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES CRUSHED, BUT REGIME’S DESIRE FOR THE BOMB MAY PERSIST 

«We’re going to talk to them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement, I don’t know. To me, I don’t think it’s that necessary. I mean, they had a war. They fought. Now they’re going back to their world. I don’t care if I have an agreement or not. The only thing we would be asking for is what we’re asking for before about, we want no nuclear [program]. But we destroyed the nuclear,» Trump also said.  

«If we got a document, it wouldn’t be bad. We’re going to meet with them. Actually, we’re going to meet with them,» the president continued. 

However, Trump then wrote on Truth Social Monday that he is not talking to Iran. 

New high-resolution photos show significant damage to Iran’s Fordow nuclear site after recent Israeli and U.S. airstrikes, with visible destruction to tunnels and access roads. (Maxar Technologies)

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«The administration and namely our special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has been in communication both directly and indirectly with the Iranians. That communication continues. The president himself has not talked to Iran, which he pointed out in his Truth statement,» White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added later Monday.