Wife of Disappeared Iranian General Claims He's Imprisoned in Israel, Provides No Proof

Asharq Alawsat:
The wife of a retired Iranian general who disappeared in February of 2007 while in Turkey claims he's being kept in an Israeli prison, according to a report published in the Arab newspaper Asharq al Awsat Wednesday. Ali Reza Asgari's first wife Ziba Ahmadi organized a protest in front of the Turkish embassy in Tehran Tuesday to complain about the "silence of official and unofficial organizations" concerning what she described as her husband's "kidnapping." The report did not include more details about Ahmadi's sources of information regarding the Israeli prison claim.

There has been speculation about Asgari's fate at following his disappearance, with some reports suggesting he may have defected and was cooperating with U.S. intelligence. Asharq al Awsat's report said that a number of agents of the Iranian intelligence services who worked abroad under the cover of being businessmen and had direct relations with Asgari, returned to Iran after his disappearance – a possible indication that Asgari may have been cooperating with American or Israeli intelligence, according to the report.

Iranian authorities had accused the CIA and the Moussad of kidnapping Asgari, but stopped commenting on the matter after some members of the Iranian Al Quds Force and members of the Revolutionary Guard's intelligence were arrested and kidnapped in Iraq and Afghanistan, says the report.

According to the report, the protest indicates a shift in how the Iranian authorities were dealing with the issue, since it allowed for the women to stand in front of the embassy for a few hours and gave permission for reporters to take pictures.

According to the official, final report issued by the Iranian defense ministry in March, Asgari was involved in importing olives from Syria. He checked into a hotel in Istanbul on February 7th of 2007 and disappeared two days later.

Asgari was a former deputy defense minister before he was arrested and charged of taking commissions related to an arms deal with Russia and "leaking military information to enemies" in the 1990s because of disagreements with the defense minister. He was cleared by then-President Mohammad Khatami and his military rank was restored, says the report.
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