Argentina have cancelled their planned friendly against Israel in Jerusalem following intense pressure by Palestinian and international campaigners heightened by last month’s killing by Israeli forces of dozens of protesters in Gaza.

Israeli embassy has confirmed that the match has been called off, citing threats to Argentina captain Lionel Messi.

“The Israeli embassy laments to announce the suspension of the match between Israel and Argentina planned for next Saturday June 9, as a prelude to the game for the World Cup in Russia,” read a statement.

Middle East Eye reports that the decision was welcomed by Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain, one of the country’s highest-profile players, in an interview with the ESPN television network on Tuesday.

“They’ve finally done the right thing,” Higuain said. “Rationale and health come before everything else. We think its best not go to Israel.”

The Palestinian Football Association also welcomed the decision, and thanked Lionel Messi, Argentina’s star player who had become the focus of campaigners’ efforts to stop the match, and his teammates for the cancellation.

“Values, morals and sport have secured a victory today and a red card was raised at Israel through the cancellation of the game,” Jibril Rajoub, the president of the PFA, said in a statement.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the campaign group which had driven the push to persuade Argentina to withdraw, also thanked the Argentine squad in a tweet which said: “Apartheid will not be entertained.”

Argentina has made four previous pre-World Cup stopovers in Israel since 1986. Most countries do not recognise either Israeli or Palestinian sovereignty in Jerusalem and have their embassies to Israel in the Tel Aviv area.

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According to Development of International Business (DNI), local exports to Iran have reached historic peaks since 2007, climbing to more than one billion dollars in the past two years. 

“It is a significant export increase of more than 1,100 percent over the past six years. Trade with Iran has turned the Asian continent to the second destination of the Argentine products even more than the European continent,” Marcelo Elizondo, director of the department of international business at DNI, told Press TV correspondent. 

“Argentina is clearly looking to emerging countries for growing market. Besides Argentina’s economic model is based on agricultural products. Last year, it exported 81 billion dollars, 55 percent of them were agricultural exports and Iran demands agricultural products. And a third reason is that over the past years the two countries seem to have overcome the political differences that neutralize bilateral trade,” Elizondo added. 

Israel and its Western allies have nervously watched growing economic and political relations between Iran and Argentina but Buenos Aires has responded to the criticism. 

Argentina’s Foreign Minister Hector Timerman has said that the upturn in trade ties is a response to “the sovereign decision of the government of Iran” to import Argentine products. 

This comes as President Cristina Fernandez also defended an agreement with Iran to establish a “truth commission” to investigate the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. 

Under intense political pressure imposed by the US and Israel, Argentina formally accused Iran of having carried out the 1994 bombing attack on the AMIA building that killed 85 people. AMIA stands for the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina or the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association. 

The Islamic Republic has categorically denied any involvement in the terrorist bombing. 

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