The New York Times waited six months after gathering all the key information before publishing a report this week on allegations that Iran masterminded the 1994 bombing of the Jewish communal center in Buenos Aires, according to sources in Argentina who were interviewed by the Times for its report. The front-page report, which generated headlines around the world, also alleged that former Argentinean president Carlos Menem had negotiated a $10 million payoff to divert the investigation away from Iran. The allegations were based largely on a transcript of secret testimony given by an Iranian defector, a former senior Iranian intelligence officer known as Abdolghassem Mesbahi. But two sources in Argentina who were interviewed by the Times that the newspaper of record received the transcript at the beginning of 2002. In addition, the Times completed most of its supporting interviews within a few weeks after that, according to most of those named in the story. Observers noted, moreover, that all the information in the Times article had been published elsewhere months earlier, both in Argentine newspapers and in a series of investigative articles in the Forward. Such assertions are sure to fuel already rampant speculation in Argentina that the Times had timed publication of its version in order to maximize political damage to Menem, who announced last week that he was running for president again. Elections are scheduled for next March.
Check it out.
