*As U.S.-Iran tensions escalate, Latin America is emerging as a contested arena where Tehran’s proxy networks expand and regional governments push back.*

  
Argentina’s decision in late March to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a [terrorist organization](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/argentina-designates-irans-irgc-terrorist-organization-aligning-with-us-2026-04-01/) underscores its deepening alignment with the West under the leadership of President Javier Milei. The decision comes two years after an [Argentinian court](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/12/argentina-iran-1994-amia-bombing) held Iran responsible for the [1994 bombing](https://apnews.com/article/argentina-bombing-jewish-community-center-921ee279365a80a729f819117ca905ce) of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentine history. Together, these steps position Milei among a group of Latin American leaders willing to pursue a maximum-pressure approach toward Tehran, a campaign introduced by the first Trump administration and restored by the [White House](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-restores-maximum-pressure-on-iran/) in 2025.

The Iran War Spills Into Latin America