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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| Missing Iranian Minster Reportedly Cooperating with Western Intelligence | |
| 2007-03-08 | |
| Some background from Al-Awsat:Israel has denied involvement in the disappearance of former Iranian deputy defense minister, ’Ali Reza Asghari. Amir Peretz Israel’s Defense Minister rejected Tehran's claims that Israeli agents were involved in Asghari’s disappearance, while today's Washington post has reported the Iranian general willingly defected and is currently cooperating with Western intelligence agencies. Citing a senior U.S. official, the Post said in its Thursday edition that Ali Reza Asghari, had left his country and was willingly cooperating on information on Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iran's ties to the group. Earlier this week A source from the Iranian military, who was among the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Beirut since the late 1980s, confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the former Iranian Deputy Defense Minister, “is well” and that he is being well cared for in a northern European country where he meets for several hours a day with a group of military experts to oversee the completion of a number of controversial issues that the Revolutionary Guard has played a major role in; including the bombing of the marine barracks in Beirut [October 1983] and the destruction of the American Embassy and the French camp in the early 1980’s, in addition to a number of security issues and terrorist operations that have targeted a number of countries in the region, and the elimination of various Iranian opposition leaders abroad. The source also revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Asghari took over the IRGC leadership in Beirut after Ahmed Kanani (who later took control of the IRGC leadership in Tunis and was the former Iranian ambassador in Madagascar), and Hussein Mosleh before him, who is privy to many secrets after spending two years in Lebanon, as well as having visited Sudan, Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The former deputy minister, Asghari, despite the delicacy of his responsibilities in the IRGC and the Iranian Ministry of Defense, has remained distanced away from the spotlight in accordance with his own personal wishes. He enjoyed huge prestige amongst his fellow comrades in the IRGC, which he had presided over. According to a prominent colonel, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, he said that he had spent several months side-by-side with Asghari in the battlefields and he confirmed the latter’s courage and skills. Regarding the circumstances of Asghari’s disappearance in Turkey and the allegations that he has sought refuge in the US, Asharq Al-Awsat has discovered that the former Iranian deputy minister of defense has gone to Damascus, to head a delegation of experts from the fields of military and defense with the purpose of holding talks with officials from the Syrian Defense ministry regarding the establishment of compounds for the production of military equipment in Syria. The visit to Istanbul was not for the officially stated reasons, rather the intention was to meet with a renowned European arms dealer. According to an Iranian diplomat in Istanbul, the arms dealer postponed his departure by a day following a phone call with Asghari.
According to anonymous officials who spoke to the Turkish newspaper, ‘Millet’, the Turkish intelligence and police had discovered that Asghari was opposed to the Iranian government and that he holds information regarding its nuclear plan. An official from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity has said that the ministry [Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs] was following the case at Iran’s request and that there was nothing unusual about it. He said, “To us, he is simply a lost regular Iranian person,” and added, “After the [Ministry of Interior] comes up with a solution, we will relay the information to Iran as part of the diplomatic procedures.” | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #10 Probably working on unNatural Bridge. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-03-08 23:12 |
| #9 "Way out in Virginia" Mount Weather, anyone? :-D (BTW, I drove by there once - very innocuous-looking place.) |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-03-08 19:12 |
| #8 "out away nooks in Virginia" Well there's so many Iranians and Arabs running around out here in the VA countryside, it would be hard to spot a new face. |
| Posted by: in Leesburg VA 2007-03-08 18:01 |
| #7 Is that Fred or Dr Phibes at the mighty Wurlitzer, Sea? Too much hair for Fred...... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-03-08 17:35 |
| #6 There's a new guy running the gift shop at Luray Caverns... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-03-08 17:25 |
| #5 hummm, innocuous out-away nooks in Virgina, Anyone besides me notice Fred has been gone alot lately? |
| Posted by: Steve 2007-03-08 16:58 |
| #4 Way out in VA, sounds like NSA. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-03-08 15:25 |
| #3 hummm, innocuous out-away nooks in Virgina, surely some RBee knows the territory. |
| Posted by: RD 2007-03-08 15:08 |
| #2 And another S.U.O. talks to FOX: TEHRAN, Iran — A former Iranian deputy defense minister who disappeared from Turkey last month is not cooperating with Western intelligence agencies and his whereabouts remain a mystery, a U.S. official told FOX News Thursday. The Washington Post reported Thursday that Ali Rez Asgari, who is credited with founding the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, was fully cooperating with and divulging information to U.S. and other intelligence services. However, a senior U.S. official flatly denied the report. U.S. intelligence agencies remain extremely interested in Asgari's case, the official said, but they do not know his current whereabouts. The official did not rule out the possibility that Asgari, who once commanded Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and served as the country's deputy defense minister, was conducting negotiations with an intelligence organization, but denied that there was any type of cooperation with the U.S. "I know nothing! Tell them, Hogan." |
| Posted by: Steve 2007-03-08 14:25 |
| #1 A spokesman from the American State Department told Asharq Al-Awsat that he could not comment on the issue. "...and if I could comment, I'd have leaked it to the New York Times well before you. Nothing personal." |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-03-08 13:12 |