Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Iranian general 'seeking asylum in US'

The Austrailian reports:

A RETIRED Iranian general who went missing in Turkey last month has defected and sought asylum in the US, according to a well-connected Arabic newspaper published in London.
The newspaper, al-Shark al-Awsat, cited "high-profile" sources saying former Iranian deputy defence minister and Revolutionary Guard commander Ali Reza Asghari had gone over to the West.
Reports from Istanbul that General Asghari's family had also disappeared in Turkey support the likelihood that he defected rather than was kidnapped by either the CIA or by Israel's Mossad, as has been speculated. The general went missing from his Istanbul hotel a month ago....


Asgari supposedly knows sensitive information about Iran's nuclear and military projects which could strongly counter Iran's claims of peaceful intentions for its nuclear program. Asgari, 63, served in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and held a senior position in the Guards' branch in Lebanon from the 1990s. One of the Asgari's assignments was to strengthen ties with Hizballah and supervise the transfer of Iranian instructors to Hizballah training camps in Lebanon. After returning to Iran, Asgari was promoted to deputy defense minister.

2 comments:

Gayle said...

If he truly did defect to the west as speculated, then this is great news, Serendip. The good Lord knows that we can use all the good news we can get.

Great find! :)

Sherry said...

Now this is news to me. Why would he defect over here?