We thought no head of state was mad enough to volunteer for such a mission. Maybe we were wrong.
As Yves reported in her daily update on the Iran War on Tuesday, “none of the US’ putative (ex-Israel) allies are willing to bail him out of the mess he created, by sending naval assets on a suicidal mission to try to open the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic”. The FT’s Martin Wolf went some way to explaining why in his article, “Trump Broke It. Now He Owns It“:
In the past 24 hours, seven US allies (the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Japan) have signed a joint statement announcing their support for the creation of a coalition to reopen the strait of Hormuz for commercial ships and oil tankers. Conspicuously absent from that statement is any commitment to send naval vessels or other resources to actually make that happen. It’s not hard to see why.
In his latest conversation with Daniel Davis, John Mearsheimer likened any US attempt to force open the Strait of Hormuz to the allied forces’ disastrous 1915 Gallipoli campaign, which coincidentally resulted in roughly 220,000 casualties on the allied side (out of a force of almost 500,000), according to the UK’s National Army Museum.
In other words, you’d have to be stark raving mad to even contemplate such a mission. This sort of level of madness:
In Javier Milei, Argentina has a national leader that not only fits that description to a tee but also prides himself on being the world’s “most Zionist president”, even as the Zionist project brings the world to the brink of World War III. According to one Israeli source, Milei has already offered to send part of Argentina’s threadbare naval fleet into battle.
On Wednesday, Marc Zell, an American-Israeli lawyer and chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, posted a tweet claiming that Argentina “is sending” naval units to the Strait of Hormuz to collaborate with the US in the conflict with Iran. Zoll proposed that, in return, Washington should support Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). In other words, screw the Brits:
So, the Trump administration will purportedly now be urged by this prominent Israeli lobbyist (and perhaps others) to reverse US policy on the Falklands (Malvinas) and support the Argentinian claim — all in retaliation for the UK’s refusal to send its own depleted naval fleet on a kamikaze mission to the Strait. This is despite the fact that UK airbases have been at the heart of the US’ bomber operations against Iran — for “defensive” purposes only, of course.
After aiding Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Keir Starmer is now aiding the illegal war on Iran. https://t.co/JrB3MWixnh
— Lowkey (@Lowkey0nline) March 18, 2026
Zell’s claims regarding Argentina are as yet unsubstantiated. There has so far been no official confirmation from the Milei government that it is willing to deploy naval units in the Strait of Hormuz. What’s more, Argentina’s Constitution holds that any decision of this type must go through Congress, and so far no efforts have been made in that direction.
In other words, this could be one big fat piece of fake news, intended to put additional pressure on the US’ traditional military allies in Europe, Asia and North America. That said, the Milei government has shown no compunction about bypassing Congress before, including when it donated Argentine weapons to Ukraine’s war effort last year. Also, recent off-the-cuff remarks from government officials suggest that Milei is more than open to the idea.
“If the United States requests it, yes. Any help they consider will be given,” government spokesman Javier Lanari told Spain’s El Mundo, adding that as yet no formal request had been made. This is perhaps due to the small size and decrepit state of Argentina’s naval fleet.[1]
Argentina’s Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno has also refused to rule out speculation that the Milei government is considering sending two warships to the Persian Gulf to support the US-Israeli war effort.
“We should not talk about rumours but about certainties,” Quirno said. “Everyone knows where we stand.”
The national senator for Milei’s party, Freedom Advances, and former security minister, Patricia Bullrich, put it in starker terms:
“A lot has happened with Iran in our country. We have had two attacks against two institutions (NC: in reference to the 1992 suicide bombing of the Israeli embassy and the 1994 attack on the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association centre). This war has roots here… We are not getting into someone else’s far-off war, we are going against someone who already attacked Argentina.”
“The World’s Most Zionist President”
As for Milei himself, he has made it crystal clear where his loyalties lie in the latest West Asian conflict. In a recent visit to the US — his 15th since taking office just over two years ago — Milei described Iran as “an enemy of Argentina”, said that “we will win the war”, and proudly crowned himself “the world’s most Zionist president”.
In a talk at the Yeshiva University in New York, Milei did not mince his words. “I don’t like Iran,” he said, adding: “They bombed us twice, once at the AMIA and again at the Israeli Embassy. Therefore, let’s say, they are our enemies. But I also have a strategic alliance with the United States and Israel.”
Milei did not provide any evidence of Iranian involvement in the aforementioned attacks. Meanwhile, a new opinion poll by the consultancy firm Zuban Córdoba suggests that 7 out of 10 Argentines oppose the country’s involvement in the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Their main concerns are probably closer to home, especially as Milei’s chainsaw economics has shrunk domestic industry to pre-WW2 levels, according to a new study by the University of Buenos Aires. In just over two years, more than 100,000 jobs have been lost in industrial sectors as more than 22,000 factories and companies have hit the wall.
Argentinians are taking on loans, selling their belongings, and living on credit cards to pay for basics including food.https://t.co/ynQ7DO39a0
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 17, 2026
Meanwhile, the heat is rising on Milei as fresh allegations suggest he and his sister, Karina, pocketed $5 million to promote the LIBRA meme coin that ended up stiffing “investors” out of hundreds of millions of dollars. As the Buenos Aires Herald notes, the $LIBRA scandal is the biggest threat Milei faces.
Like Trump, Argentina’s president needs a diversion from growing problems at home. Which may explain why Milei keeps acting as if Argentina is already part of the war effort. In an act to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the attack on the Israeli embassy in Argentina a couple of days ago, Milei said that “in the face of terrorism there can be no truce”:
The ceremony, in commemoration of the attack that occurred in 1992, causing 29 deaths and more than 250 wounded, was held in the place where the embassy was located, in the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Retiro, under the slogan “The first time is not forgotten.”
…
He maintained that our country “faces terrorism,” and described the State of Israel as “a sister nation that shares the same values as ours.”
Those “shared” values…
A group of Israeli soldiers filmed themselves looting homes in Lebanon – like they did in Gaza.
Israel’s assault on Lebanon has forcibly displaced over 1 million Lebanese people in less than 3 weeks. pic.twitter.com/YsQw4krtxd
— AJ+ (@ajplus) March 18, 2026
Israel just killed 12 paramedics after deliberately targeting a medical center
Israel has now killed 27 paramedics and injured 51 in Lebanon in ten days.
This violates IHL and a war crime under the Rome Statute, but international law clearly doesn’t apply to Israel. pic.twitter.com/4y5WcHC0mu
— Mohamad Safa (@mhdksafa) March 14, 2026
Absolute bombshell. Mearsheimer reveals Trump secretly allowed Iran to sell its oil to keep global prices under 100 dollars. But Israel intentionally bombed Iranian gas fields to ruin the plan, sending prices skyrocketing and destroying the US economy. pic.twitter.com/Of4ScS0pmR
— Furkan Gözükara (@FurkanGozukara) March 19, 2026
Since it launched the 12 day war last year without provocation, Israel has been slaughtering hundreds of innocent people in order to assassinate Iranian leaders and nuclear scientists, simply because they live near them – the same crime they committed again and again in Gaza https://t.co/FCaPyZNHT0
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) March 19, 2026
Shifting Allegiances
Boasting the world’s sixth-largest Jewish population, of around 300,000, Argentina has traditionally been a close ally of Israel. In fact, the southern Argentinian region of Patagonia was on the short-list of candidates for the founding of a Jewish state in the late 19th century.
Relations between the two countries have only got stronger since Milei, an aspiring Jewish convert with close ties to the highly influential Chabad Lubavitch movement, took over as president in December 2023. A Roman Catholic by upbringing, Milei not only wants to convert to Judaism when he leaves politics, he has also claimed to have Jewish heritage.
Milei has made two official visits to Israel since coming to office where he wailed at the wall (on both occasions), danced and sang with Israeli settlers as Israeli bombs rained down on Gaza, and unveiled plans to move his country’s embassy to Jerusalem.
Argentinian President Javier Milei danced with Israeli settlers at the Western Wall plaza in occupied East Jerusalem’s historic Old City of Jerusalem amid Israel’s brutal bombardment of Palestine’s Gaza, which has killed at least 27,947 Palestinians since October pic.twitter.com/Vt334ylMEy
— TRT World (@trtworld) February 9, 2024
Milei has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel that sets the stage for unprecedented cooperation in counter-terrorism and economic activity, establishing fast-track customs lanes, joint satellite launches and water technology centres on the Paraná River, Argentina’s most important trade and transport waterway. It also enables the payment of welfare benefits to Israeli citizens with residency permits in Argentina.
When Israel and Iran locked horns in April 2024, Milei called an immediate cabinet meeting in Buenos Aires that he then allowed Israel’s ambassador to Argentina to effectively chair, as we reported in “Javier Milei Seems Intent on Embroiling Argentina in War, Whether in Ukraine or the Middle East (Or Both)“. After that meeting, Milei told a veteran journalist off record that Argentina “cannot be neutral in the Third World War.”
The Third World War may have already begun, and it is clear which side Milei is on. By declaring Iran an enemy of Argentina, he is not only increasing the risks of retaliatory attacks against Argentine targets, he is also breaking with Argentina’s diplomatic tradition of moderation and neutrality, just as Carlos Menem did briefly in 1991 by sending two military frigates to participate in the first US-led Gulf War.
A year later, Israel’s embassy was attacked. Twenty-nine civilians were killed in the suicide bombing attack and 242 additional civilians were injured. Two years after that, it was the turn of AMIA, in which 85 were killed and 300 were wounded. Thirty-two years on, no one has been arrested or tried for either crime. [2]
“Crossing a Red Line”
Milei’s recent declarations have already elicited a terse response from certain quarters in Iran. Five days ago, The Tehran Times published an editorial accusing the Milei government of “crossing an unforgivable red line”:
The statements made by the Milei (sic), President of Argentina in recent months, especially after the illegal military aggression by the United States and the Zionist regime against Iran, have once again unveiled a bitter and dangerous reality: The Argentine government has become an instrument in the hands of the Zionist regime and the United States to advance the project of Iranophobia.
Although the Iranophobia project began 31 years ago, with the fabrication of false and baseless accusations about Iran’s alleged involvement in the suspicious bombing of the Jewish community center in Argentina (AMIA), led by the U.S. and Israel, Milei’s two-year presidency has shown that the Zionist regime has deployed all its efforts to exploit his rise to power in order to intensify the atmosphere of Iranophobia.
During this time, Javier Milei, without any pretense and in line with the directive he has been given, has defined himself as aligned with the American-Zionist axis. Recently, in a speech at a university in the United States, he explicitly called Iran an “enemy” and declared that his country’s foreign policy is aligned with the aggressive strategies of the U.S. and the Israeli apartheid regime against Iran. This is while the Islamic Republic of Iran has never considered the people or the government of Argentina as its enemy, but it seems that Milei, with this approach and by crossing the red line of Iran’s national security, seeks to sacrifice national interests and expediency at the altar of the U.S. and the Israeli apartheid regime.
Although his insolent statements against the sacred figure of the Martyred Leader and the eminent authority of the Shiite world, as the Persian poet said: “How can the sea be defiled by the snout of a dog?”, are unworthy and gratuitous, it appears that this hostile policy, implemented by Milei, has become institutionalized in broad sectors of the power structure in Argentina. Javier Milei has turned Argentina into the Israel of Latin America; a place where lobbies and elements close to the Zionist regime have deep influence in decision-making centers. This influence has transformed Argentina into a base for designing and executing plots against Iran.
The Tehran Times, while not officially state owned, is considered to be closely tied to the hardline factions within the Iranian government. And those factions have been made a lot stronger by the US and Israel’s launch of this war of aggression and their assassination of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other key government figures.
In an interview with Perfil (published in English by Buenos Aires Herald), Iran’s top envoy in Argentina, Mohsen Soltani Tehrani, struck a more conciliatory tone, emphasising that Argentina’s entry into the war would have zero impact on its course and that any beef Iran may have will be with the Milei government, not the people of Argentina:
The Argentines we know do not think like Milei. But if he presents himself as the most Zionist president in the world, then he could indeed be considered an enemy of Iran, because Zionism seeks to destroy or disintegrate Iran and is killing innocent people. But in that case it would be him, not the Argentine people.
Milei’s position regarding Iran has not changed anything. Relations are already at a very low level and his stance does not alter the situation.
I believe he wants to capitalise on what he imagines will be a US victory and show he is on that side. But in practice Argentina does not have the military or economic capacity to influence our region, so his position has no effect on this war.
This goes without saying. A senior source in Argentina’s armed forces told La Politica Online (LPO) that the country’s fleet has a total of 29 ships. However, a mission of this kind would require three destroyers, of which one is out of service, and six corvettes, the most modern of which is the “Gómez Roca” which dates to 2004:
LPO exclusively revealed in October of last year that the United States government had asked Argentina to join the military deployment in the Caribbean as part of its strategy of pressure against Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela. At that time, Navy sources clarified that they only had ammunition for two hours of combat.
It is reminiscent of the consignments of weapons — including Russian ordinance — and other aid that the Milei administration sent to Ukraine, in secret. As the Argentine news agency RealPolitik points out, shipping those weapons without the endorsement of Congress “can constitute serious crimes in the Argentine Penal Code”. At the same time, they will have also had next to no impact on the course of the war.
[1] From Pucara Defensa (machine translated):
[T]he fact that some ships can sail does not mean that they have real combat capability in a modern scenario. On the one hand, their surveillance and fire control radars, sonars and other sensors, and armament are the same as when they were incorporated about 40 years ago (although the ARA Gómez Roca was incorporated in 2006, it was due to delays in its construction and its systems are similar to those of its sister vessels, dating back to the ’80s). All of the vessels lack any effective system to detect drones or combat them… The Meko 360’s Aspide anti-aircraft missiles are totally obsolete, as well as the Meko 140’s MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles and to a large extent the Meko 360’s MM40 Exocet. All ships lack a point air defence system, although in some ways their Breda/Bofors 40/70 guns can fulfill this function. This makes it very risky to operate in a scenario of a large presence of both aerial and surface drones and speedboats armed with missiles.
Some have raised the possibility of sending one of the Bouchard-class OPVs, which are the most modern ships in the force, but they also do not have the capacity to act effectively in the face of the threats posed by the Iranians. While its Leonardo MARLIN-WS1 turret with a 30mm Bushmaster rapid-fire gun can serve against naval and aerial drones, its firepower is limited if a swarm-type attack occurs, as the Iranians have already done. They also do not have any demining capabilities… nor do they have any decoy system against anti-ship missiles, so they would not be able to defend themselves if they are attacked with this type of weapon.
[2] A Lebanese-Colombian member of Hezbollah, Amer Mohamed Akil Rada, was alleged (by the US and Argentina) to have a hand in the first attack while the second attack was claimed by another Hezbollah-allied group and also allegedly involved Akil Rada.
In April 2024, the Federal Court of Cassation, Argentina’s highest criminal court, ruled that Hezbollah had perpetrated the attack against AMIA under the orders of Iran. There have also been allegations, including from former MI5 agent Annie Machon, that it was a false flag attack perpetrated by Mossad and US intelligence.
One of the few things that is clear is that the investigation into the attacks was corrupt to the core. In 2019, the original magistrate in charge of the case, Juan José Galeano, was sentenced to six years in prison for using public funds to bribe false witnesses to accuse a group of police officers of being the “local connection” to the attack. The prosecutors in the case and the main heads of the intelligence apparatus at the time of the attack were also tried and convicted of trying to cover up what had happened.
