Argentina court drops cover-up claim against ex-president

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — An Argentine court on Thursday dismissed a legal action against former President Cristina Fernández charging she sought to cover up the alleged involvement of Iranian operatives in a 1994 bombing that killed 85 people at a Jewish center in Buenos Aires.

The court said in an oral order that it concluded an agreement signed by Argentina and Iran in 2013 for conducting an investigation into the terrorist attack at the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association “did not constitute a crime.”

Fernández, who was Argentina's president in 2007-2015, is now the country's vice president.

The claim against Fernández was filed in January 2015 by federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found dead in his apartment a few days before appearing that same month before Congress to give details of his accusation against her.

According to the prosecutor, the pact with Iran had the hidden objective of canceling Interpol’s red alerts against citizens of Iran who investigators had identified as authors of the Jewish center attack. He said the agreement included provisions for Argentina to exchange is grain for Iranian oil.

Fernández has said the agreement was the only way to reactivate the investigation into the bombing, which has been paralyzed for more than two decades and for which no one has ever been convicted.