Hector Timerman, Jewish former FM of Argentina, dies

Hector Timerman, a Jewish former foreign minister of Argentina, has died at age 65, according to local media reports.

Timerman served as top diplomat from 2010 to 2015 under controversial president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, and was instrumental in establishing a much-derided truth commission with Iran to investigate the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center.

Timerman, who had been suffering from cancer, was arrested late last year and accused of taking part in a cover-up of Iran’s role in the bombing. He was later released to house arrest but prevented from flying to New York to receive treatment.

Timerman earlier served as ambassador to the US. His father Jacobo Timerman was an ardent Zionist who lived for several years in Israel after being exiled by Argentina’s military junta. Hector Timerman lived during that time in New York.