Aftermath of AMIA bombing
Aftermath of AMIA bombingReuters

An Argentine judge on Thursday ordered the arrest of former president Cristina Kirchner for allegedly covering up Iranian involvement in a 1994 bombing at a Buenos Aires Jewish center that left 85 people dead, according to a judicial source.

The order also removes the judicial immunity of Kirchner, who served as president from 2007-2015 and is now a senator. She has previously called the case an "absurdity."

Kirchner is facing accusations of treason and plotting a cover-up for signing a 2012 pact with Iran that would have allowed senior Iranian officials accused in the deadly attack to be investigated in their own country, rather than in Argentina.

Kirchner, Argentina's president from 2007 to 2015, allegedly received oil and trade benefits from Iran in exchange for signing off on a deal that enabled the suspects to avoid prosecution.

In early 2013, Argentina's congress approved, at the request of the executive branch, an agreement with Tehran to form a truth commission to investigate the bombing.

Leaders of Argentina's Jewish community, which at 300,000 people is the largest in Latin America, have criticized the accord. In 2014, an Argentine court declared the agreement to be unconstitutional.