Nothing to see here...
Posted on 03/07/2007 12:45:06 PM PST by radar101
TEHRAN, Iran — The mystery of a missing former Iranian deputy defense minister deepened Wednesday with the report by an Arab newspaper that he is being interviewed somewhere in northern Europe before defecting to the U.S.
Retired Revolutionary Guards general Ali Reza Asghari disappeared in Turkey nearly a month ago and reportedly hopes to seek asylum in the United States, according to a report in the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat.
The newspaper quoted senior Iranian sources as saying Asghari is headed for the United States "along with the secrets he carried."
A Senior U.S. official told FOX News that Asghari is not in CIA hands but said that it's a "mystery" why he disappeared "and the U.S. intelligence community is seeking more clarity."
Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported that Asghari is being questioned by intelligence personnel before being transferred to the United States.
Asghari was supposed to arrive at an Istanbul hotel nearly a month ago after being in Damascus but several reports said he never arrived.
Iran's top police chief said Tuesday he thought Asghari was abducted by Western intelligence services, an Iranian news agency reported.
Iran's top police chief, Gen. Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghaddam, said Iran was investigating the fate of Asghari through the Turkish police.
"It is likely that Asghari has been abducted by the Western intelligence services," IRNA quoted the Iranian police general as saying. The general did not elaborate.
In Turkey, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday it was investigating the matter, but would not confirm or deny that Asghari had disappeared or been kidnapped.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry had asked the Interior Ministry to investigate following a report from the Iranian Embassy in Ankara.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
"This is huge news if true."
Unless he's a ringer.
I agree SW. When I read his family had fled before him, I formed the opinion that this guy really is on the lam from the Mullah's.
I sure hope that this is a true story and it yields valuable intel.
His handlers may have told him the time to leave is now.
Everyone knows Phase II has been sold out for months!
True. better yet can we convince ALgore and Hillary to defect to Iran?
The dims make the jihadis seem like patriotic americans in comparison.
Of course we want him. When we have him, we can break and control him.
I'm sure Mossad had some role to play.
Why would this be public information?
His handlers may have told him the time to leave is now.
Correct. But why would that be, I wonder?
Why cash out on such a goldmine. He'd easily be our highest placed source in the country, and a rare gem at that. How many deputy defense ministers are on the U.S. payroll at CIA? Especially from a threat nation like Iran? That would be one of the crown jewels of U.S. human intelligence. Why pawn it?
There's really only a handful of reasons for doing so, assuming that this is fact a defection, and that his cover wasn't blown.
Why would a guy himself mislead authorities and go to a different hotel so he could get abducted? It's obvious that it was to get the Iranians off his back so he could meet his contact at the cheap hotel, who took him to safety.
No it is common. Many agents of the Iranian government have defected to the US.
Is it, or speculation at this point?
Nothing to see here...
Seriously, that's how AchImaNutjob thinks.
>>I'm sure Mossad had some role to play.<<
And I sure don't begrudge help from Israel... It just spins much internationally if its a defection to the U.S. instead of a kidnapping by Israel.
Nice plan. Grab this guy and whisk him off to some unnamed third world country where he's 'debriefed' and then tell him he can 'defect' to America or we're going to turn him loose somewhere like France and spread the word that he's a defector.
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