The deal reached 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.

Argentina’s Foreign Ministry sent a note to the Bolivian embassy in Buenos Aires on Monday “requesting information about the scope of the discussions and possible agreements reached during the official visit of (Bolivian Defense) Minister Edmundo Novillo to the Islamic Republic of Iran,” an official at Argentina’s Foreign Ministry said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

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 sealed July 20.

“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,” Gustavo Aliaga, a Bolivian opposition lawmaker who is the secretary of the Defense and Armed Forces Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, told The Associated Press.

Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani signed the defense and security memorandum of understanding with Novillo in Tehran, according to a report from Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA.

“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,” according to the IRNA report.

Novillo has yet to give any details on the agreement since returning to Bolivia over the weekend.

Source: IMFAT