The Jewish world has condemned an agreement signed by Argentina and Iran in Addis Ababa this week which will establish a “truth commission” to probe the bombing of the Amia Jewish centre in Buenos Aires in 1994. That attack left 85 dead and more than 300 wounded.

Argentinian authorities have accused eight Iranians of responsibility for the bombing — including current Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi, and former president Ali Rafsanjani.

According to the Addis Ababa agreement, the case can be investigated by prosecutors both in Tehran and in Buenos Aires. The Truth Commission will be composed of independent lawyers who cannot come from either Argentina or Iran.

Shimon Samuels, director of international relations at the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles, said: “This is a farce. It will cover up terrorism and encourage the [Iranian] clerics to become sponsors of future attacks.”

Amia — the umbrella group representing Argentina’s Jewish community denounced the accord, saying that it was up to the Argentinian authorities to investigate the bombing.

An Israeli statement said: “Ignoring everything carried out by Argentinian justice and replacing it with a commission which, at best, will release, within some undefined deadline, a ‘recommendation’ to the parties involved, represents a setback to the objective of obtaining justice.”