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Will World’s “Most Zionist President”, Javier Milei, Deploy Argentina’s Navy for Trump’s Kamikaze Strait of Hormuz Mission?

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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“:

“The only thing prohibiting transit in the straits right now is Iran shooting at shipping. It is open for transit, should Iran not do that.”

This staggering remark from “secretary of war” Pete Hegseth explains why none of the US allies being asked to join in the fight to reopen the Strait of Hormuz are prepared to do so: they were not consulted; this is not a Nato operation; and, above all, the people in charge are plainly careless.

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:

Imagen

Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man

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:

Argentina is sending naval units to assist the U.S. in safeguarding international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The UK has refused. In 1982 President Reagan came to the aid of then PM Margaret Thatcher who was defending the UK colony in the Falkland Islands, claimed by Argentina which refers to them as the Malvinas Islands. In light of the UK’s cowardly refusal to support the US in the Persian Gulf conflict, I think it only appropriate for the Trump Administration to consider reversing US policy on the Falklands and support the Argentinian claim.

https://twitter.com/GOPIsrael/status/2034136302958838008

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.

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.

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…

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.

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.

 Javier Milei, without any pretense and in line with the directive he has been given, has set out his clear alignment 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.

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 Tehran, Zahra Ershadi — adviser to Iran’s foreign minister and director general for the Americas — condemned Milei’s “insulting, hostile and anti-Iranian” statements, and questioned Argentina’s position in the war.

“The blatant support of the President of Argentina for the military aggression of the United States and the Zionist regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran constitutes a violation of international obligations,” said the Iranian Foreign Ministry official, in a text distributed through diplomatic channels.

By declaring Iran an enemy, Milei is painting a big target on Argentina’s back — for a war taking place over 13,000 kilometres away that is of absolutely no benefit to Argentina. What’s more, if Milei were to actually send the country’s naval assets into the region, they would have no meaningful impact on the war, apart from as target practice for Iranian drones and missiles.

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 back to 2004 (emphasis my own):

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.

[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.

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11 comments

  1. Ignacio

    Milei isn’t probably that different if you compare him with Starmer, Merz etc. They all care about themselves and don’t give a damn about the populaces they rule. The difference in choices might come from the fact that Milei is financially much more dependent on Trump than the other mentioned. Another morally challenged in charge. As usual, my comment will go to moderation. I feel sorry about this and I am thinking if it would be better to stop commenting until the problem is solved.

    1. Nick Corbishley Post author

      I agree, Ignacio, that morally speaking there is little difference between Milei and European heads of state and government like Starmer, Merz and Macron. But Milei is a true believer in the Zionist project. It’s not hard to see him settling in Israel when his political career ends, hopefully with him escaping from the Casa Rosada in a helicopter. This, I believe, sets him apart from most other Western “leaders”, whose support for Israel is based primarily on matters of political convenience and career advancement. Starmer is a perfect example here: without the Israeli lobby’s direct meddling in UK politics during Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, Starmer would almost certainly not be prime minister today.

      1. vao

        All this is true, but I have a hard time believing that Milei pulls these ultra-zionist policies all by himself. He is the president, but his powers and his personal capabilities have limits. There must be a whole coalition of politicians, financiers, business-people, and military officers (call it deep-state if you wish) supporting and implementing those policies, and who take advantage of them to further other, less conspicuous policies closer to their heart — or simply their personal welfare.

        The questions are: who are they and how do they benefit from Milei rabid pro-Israeli stance, because this is not at all obvious to me. For instance, the military must not be pleased to see its arsenals being emptied in favour of Ukraine, or having to organize suicide missions far from home.

        By the way: all my comments get moderated as well, and this made me wonder: how many comments does the NC team have to review each day? It must be truly a lot.

        1. Nick Corbishley Post author

          The questions are: who are they and how do they benefit from Milei rabid pro-Israeli stance, because this is not at all obvious to me. For instance, the military must not be pleased to see its arsenals being emptied in favour of Ukraine, or having to organize suicide missions far from home.

          I’m sure there are many powerful actors, both domestic and international, pulling Milei’s puppet strings. They include Chabad Luviditch, the hugely influential Hasidic dynasty and global movement that has close ties to both Trump and Putin. It also includes his former long-time employer Eduardo Eurnekián, an Argentinian-Armenian businessman with very close business and philanthropic ties to Israel who single-handedly launched Milei’s political career by giving him a spot as an economics commentator on one of his prime-time TV shows. The Jewish-British billionaire, Joe Lewis, who owns 12,000 hectares of land in Patagonia and was recently pardoned by Trump over insider trading charges, has also benefited handsomely from legislation passed by Milei’s government.

          Another indisputable influence over the Milei government is JP Morgan Chase. As this tweet shows, the two most senior members of his economic team, Luis Caputo (economy minister) and José Luis Daza (deputy economy minister), and his most senior central bankers, Santaigo Busili (president of the BCRA) and Vladimir Werning (vice president of the BCRA), are all former JPM executives. In research for this post, I discovered that his foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, was also formerly director of mergers and acquisitions for Latin America at JPM. That is five very important positions occupied by former JPM employees. In his last visit to New York a week or so ago, Milei visited JP Morgan to inaugurate the bank’s “Argentina Week”. He has also met with Jamie Dimon, who himself paid Argentina a visit back in October.

          Whether related or not, it may also be worth keeping in mind that JPM was the preferred bank of choice of a certain Jeffrey E. Epstein, as the Times documents in its article, How JPMorgan Enabled the Crimes of Jeffrey Epstein. The US Senate Committee on Finance’s recent report, “With JPMorgan Chase Dodging Epstein Inquiry, Wyden Investigation Drills Down On Bank Executives’ Unexplained Conduct“, also makes for an interesting read.

    2. The Rev Kev

      ‘I am thinking if it would be better to stop commenting until the problem is solved.’

      Please don’t. I always pay close attention to any of your comments here and you would be sorely missed.

    3. tegnost

      All of my comments go to mod, it’s not you, there is something else going on, the internet is a hostile environment.

  2. JohnA

    IIRC, when Argentina invaded the Malvinas (Falklands) in the early 1980s, it took the British naval armada about 3 weeks to sail from Blighty to the South Atlantic to engage the enemy. And according to the above article, the current Argentinian naval vessels date from that era, so any relief force from Buenos Aires is unlikely to arrive until mid April at the earliest. Milei sounds pretty performative at best.

  3. The Rev Kev

    A list of active Argentine Navy ships-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_Argentine_Navy_ships

    Not that many that can be sent and you can be sure that a fair number of them will be in for maintenance & refitting. Their destroyers are forty years old as are half their corvettes. And if Milie can shake loose a ship or two, that is a very long way for a ship to travel to get to the Middle east. My conclusion then is that Milie is just sprouting a line of bs in order to suck up to Trump.

    1. voislav

      Their Navy is a mess. The ships in poor shape mechanically due to lack of spare parts and the stocks of missiles for their missile armament expired more than 15 years ago. So any ships they send would be armed only with guns and so would be sitting ducks for Iranian missiles.

    2. samm

      Thank you. I was wondering, has Argentina ever sent their navy overseas for combat operations? I can’t go without saying I’m ignorant of Argentina’s overseas power projection capabilities, but my guess is it’s not great, and the haven’t. But I guess that does answer the question, what does Argentina add to what’s looking like the Coalition Of The Lickspittles?

  4. nothing but the truth

    Javier Mileikowsky
    is related to
    Bibi Netanyahu (Mileikowsky)

    Argentina has a murky history of white supremacy.

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