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.

Uruguayan intelligence found that the man was involved in placing an explosive device outside of the Israeli embassy. After uncovering the plot, the Uruguayan government reportedly contacted the Iranian government, and both sides decided it was best to remove the Iranian diplomat from the country.

On January 8, a partially detonated explosive device was found on the ninth floor of a building in the capital city of Montevideo, on the same floor where the Israeli embassy is located. Uruguayan officials reportedly reached out to Israeli officials regarding the matter, but kept it a low profile matter for reasons that have not been explained.

Israeli officials told Haaretz that they believe that the attempted bombing was either a measure seeking to “harm the embassy or explore its security preparedness.”

Iran is known to have sophisticated networks in much of South America, through its Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Hezbollah proxy.

Montevideo is only about 100 miles from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Iran is believed to be responsible for the 1994 bombing of the Argentina-Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA), which resulted in the deaths of 85 with hundreds more wounded in the terror attack. According to recently deceased prosecutor Alberto Nisman, the Argentinian government conspired to cover up Iran’s role in the bombing in exchange for a lucrative oil deal with the Iranian regime.

The Iranian regime is also heavily involved in furthering defense partnerships and trade agreements with South American countries Bolivia and Venezuela.

Iran is believed to be actively engaged in attempting to retaliate for a recent Israeli air strike that neutralized a Hezbollah commander and Iranian General who were stationed in the Golan Heights.