Multiple groups of people believed to be Syrian refugees have been detained and rejected from Montevideo, Uruguay, after using falsified Israeli passports to book their flights into the nation.
Uruguay’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Almagro has ordered extra security protection for the Israeli embassy in Montevideo, as well as for individual Jewish diplomats and at specific Jewish community events, in response to the discovery of an explosive device last week by the embassy and subsequent mystery regarding an Iranian diplomat believed to be involved.
An Iranian official at the Islamic Republic’s embassy was indeed a suspect in a plan to bomb Israel’s embassy in Montevideo, Uruguay, the country’s government confirmed with Israeli media outlet Haaretz. However, he fled the country before the diplomat was officially declared persona non grata, so the bomber was never technically expelled from Uruguay.
Uruguay has reportedly declared a senior Iranian diplomat persona non grata after he was involved in a bomb plot against Israel’s embassy in early January, according to senior Israeli officials who told Haaretz.
The government of Uruguay received international acclaim for its decision last year to accept a high number of refugees from the Syrian Civil War, citing the need for countries across the world to participate in saving the lives of those attempting to escape. It is now reneging on its promise, at least in part: only women and children will be allowed to relocate to Syria, with the government citing a need to quell domestic violence.
