In the arcane vocabulary of spycraft, the process of spiriting an agent out of hostile territory is known as an 'extraction'. Until yesterday, all the evidence in the mysterious case of Ali Reza Asghari - the senior Iranian general who disappeared from Tehran, turned up in Istanbul last month and then disappeared again - pointed to an intricately plotted extraction involving more than one intelligence agency.
Despite muted denials of involvement from Israel, the apparent defection of Asghari -a former deputy defence minister who served in the Revolutionary Guard and was instrumental in establishing Hezbollah in Lebanon - bore all the hallmarks of a coup orchestrated by the Israeli agency Mossad with the discreet co-operation of Turkish security agencies. According to knowledgeable Israeli sources, Mossad has maintained 'stay behind' Asghari’s wife appeared in public yesterday to echo the official line that he had been kidnapped intelligence assets in Iran since the Shah, a close ally of Israel, was overthrown almost 30 years ago (the Iranians claimed recently to have broken up a Zionist spy ring). Undercover Mossad agents have also operated successfully inside Syria, which may explain why Asghari made his way to Turkey via Damascus: flying directly to Istanbul, historically a crossroads of the espionage world (both Mossad and the CIA have long had a presence there) risked attracting the attention of Vavek, Iran's domestic security agency. Exactly what prompted Asghari to disappear in such haste is not clear: his abrupt removal from the defence ministry could be a factor. Another theory holds that he had been passing secrets to the West for several years and had recently become aware that Vavek was closing in: his distress signal activated a pre-prepared extraction plan.
Either way, the reception committee awaiting Asghari in Istanbul had booked him into a luxury hotel. But he never stayed the night. Instead, it appears that he quickly
Related links Will super-spy Eli Cohen rest in peace? Condi finally advocates diplomacy vanished into the shadows with a forged passport. Israeli sources say the Turks, anxious to preserve neighbourly relations with Iran, were guaranteed by Israel that he would swiftly be moved on elsewhere. Then yesterday, the sudden appearance in public of Asghari's wife, Ziba, (previous page) suggested this scenario may be wrong. Scotching rumours that she and the children had been spirited out of Tehran before Asghari himself vanished, she appeared outside the Turkish embassy in Tehran to echo the official line that her husband had been kidnapped by Israel on behalf of the US. So which is the truth? The extraction of an agent in trouble - or kidnap under duress? Although Western intelligence sources would rate Asghari as a 'high value' defector, his career path suggests that he is unlikely to have much to tell about Iran's nuclear programme. Any debriefing process would focus more closely on his inside knowledge of Hezbollah: the US is particularly eager for information that would link Iran definitively to the devastating truck bombings that the The US is eager to link Iran to the Hezbollah attacks on American targets in Beirut in 1983 organisation launched against a US Marines barracks and the American embassy in Beirut in 1983, which claimed more than 250 lives. Hard information about Iranian involvement in a mass murder that still angers America would be snapped up by the Bush administration as it contemplates an attack on Iran. Israeli interest would focus on finally establishing the fate of the air force officer Ron Arad, who was shot down over Lebanon in 1986. After falling into Hezbollah's hands, Arad was allegedly 'sold' to the Revolutionary Guard contingent in which Asghari served and was subsequently murdered. Israelis expect every effort to be made to rescue missing servicemen or to recover their remains. So, while both the US and Israel would be keen to talk history with Asghari, he is hardly a big enough fish for either country to risk a diplomatic fiasco over a kidnap attempt. Like many a story of espionage, there are more layers of the onion waiting to be peeled back before the unvarnished truth emerges.
Relatives of Missing Iranian General Accuse US of Kidnap / March 13, 2007 / The Guardian /Robert Tait in Tehran /
Claims by western intelligence to have scored a coup by securing the defection of a senior Iranian general were contradicted yesterday by the man's relatives, who claimed he had been kidnapped by US or Israeli agents. Relatives of Ali Reza Asgari, an Iranian former deputy defence minister who disappeared during a trip to Turkey, said reports that he had fled to the west were "lies". They said he would never have spied on Iran or abandoned his family. Their appearance, outside the Turkish embassy in Tehran, seemed to counter speculation that General Asgari had arranged for his family to move to the west. Media reports based on unnamed intelligence sources have suggested that he is cooperating with western agencies after escaping from Iran because he feared his cover as a mole was about to be blown.He was said to have fled to the Syrian capital, Damascus, and then to Istanbul after securing the escape of 10 relatives. However, Gen Asgari's wife, Ziba Ahmadi, emerged with his brother and three of his children to talk to reporters. They said all the general's close relatives remained in Iran. "We are here in Iran and have not gone anywhere," said Mrs Ahmadi. "These are enemies' rumours. My husband did not have any problems with Iran that would have led him to seek asylum. The person who wants to seek asylum first takes his family with him." Gen Asgari has two wives. However, his brother, Davoud, said: "His wives, children, father and brother are all in Iran." Mrs Ahmadi said Gen Asgari went missing on December 9, contradicting reports that he disappeared last month. His trip has been depicted as part of an elaborate escape operation. However, his wife said he went to attend to business interests. · Gen Asgari's relatives spoke after meeting Devrim Ozturk, Turkey's chargé d fer
Tracking the Enemy, Angleton on Ali Reza Asgari by Michael Ledeen .
“I mean, what difference does it make if he was snatched or if he defected? It’s the same guy, right?” The “he” was of course Ali Reza Asgari, the former Iranian deputy defense minister who disappeared from Istanbul in early February.JJA: Well, obviously it matters. If you’d ever developed a mind for counterintelligence you’d know right away. ML: You mean the possibility of disinformation, right? JJA: Well that’s one thing. If he just walked in, you’d have to wonder if he was a genuine defector or if the mullahs sent him to deceive us about something or other. On the other hand, if he’d been working with us for some time — I think it was the London Times that came up with this version — that might establish more confidence in his bona fides. ML: Or not... JJA: Right, or not, depending on whether the information he was providing was stuff we should have known about anyway, or whether it was really sensitive and new. And even then, you would have to have your doubts. [He always had his doubts, of course. You didn’t get to be the wizard of counterintelligence at CIA for a generation without having doubts. Lots of doubts.] ML: The newspaper accounts vary widely. The latest was an interview with his wife in Tehran, who said he was obviously kidnapped, that he had no possible motive to defect. JJA: Well of course she would say that, it’s what the regime has already said, and if they concluded he defected, she’s in big trouble now, since she doesn’t seem to have been aware of anything special and she didn’t warn anyone. ML: Yeah, fair enough. And she’s not the only one, is she? My pal Roger Simon, who writes stories and movies about plots like this, rightly says that the mullahs are undoubtedly looking for someone to take the rap for this. JJA: HoHO. Taking the rap is the least of the problems. He’s a big deal. A big fish, as the Iranians are saying. He could tell us a lot. ML: Right. But there’s something all these newspapers have missed. They forget he was Muslim. JJA: What is that supposed to mean? ML: He had several wives. Two for sure, and maybe three or four. An Iranian I trust said categorically that a wife and some children were flown from Istanbul to Tehran on the personal plane of the deputy defense minister. Maybe another wife disappeared along with him... JJA: Ah, that’s very interesting, if true. The folks arguing for defection said “his family” also disappeared. If that turns out to be wrong, it weakens the argument for defection. What else do you know? ML: I know a little about his work, and his movements. Several elements are very suggestive. First of all, despite the Iranian regime’s statements that he was “out of the loop,” he was very much at the center of it. As you know, he was one of the evil men who created Hezbollah... JJA: And how. A wicked genius of sorts. He was probably the guiding spirit behind the massacres of our Marines in Beirut in the early eighties. ML: Indeed. And he never stopped working with Hezbollah, he was a key intermediary to Mughniyah, the world’s most dangerous terrorist, and he organized the shipment of weapons from Syria to Iraq via Turkey. He’d been in Istanbul in January, I know that for sure. And I also know that our intel people were told about it at the time, by someone who told them that he was unhappy with his career and was a good recruitment target. JJA: Lots of smugglers in Turkey. Always have been. I remember during the Second World War... ML: That hotel he went to in Istanbul. You know, the one he went to after the Iranians had paid in cash for another one? Well the one he went to is the smugglers’ favorite spot, it’s where they went for business meetings. So he went there, left his bags — I’m going on newspaper reports here — walked out the door, and... JJA: And now he’s somewhere talking to someone. How unhappy was he? Unhappy enough to betray the Islamic Republic, which he had worked all his life to create? Unhappy enough to betray his comrades-in-arms, with whom he’d worked for so long? ML: Dunno. He’d been a real insider for many years, not just in the Defense Ministry, but he’d risen to become one of the Supreme Leader’s top advisers. He was in the kitchen cabinet, a very powerful position. But he was enraged when he didn’t get the top Defense job, he felt he’d been slighted. And then there are the legal questions. JJA: Yes, I’ve heard that myself. He was an inspector, and had identified corruption inside the ministry. As always happens, he was accused of corruption too, both financial and moral . ML: Moral? You mean sex? JJA: Sex. He liked the women. ML: Four wives weren’t enough? JJA: Hey, maybe it was only two, you said. ML: Even so, two wives, good grief... JJA: Anyway ... [and here I was starting to smell burning insulation from the Ouija board] ... anyway, he was brought before a judge and apparently got so angry he tried to beat up the magistrate. ML: You’re kidding. JJA: I don’t kid about things like this, you should know that ... [sparks came out of the Ouija board, and the burning smell was getting stronger]. ML: So he might have been afraid that his enemies were going to give him an all expenses paid vacation to Evin Prison. JJA: Certainly possible. But it’s not nearly enough to go on. We need more information... [My office now had a tiny cloud in it, and I was getting more static than Angleton. I got a few more fragments.] JJA: ...if kidnapped, most likely the Israelis, they have special teams...remember Eichmann?...but... ML: Yeah, the Israelis. But I don’t believe that London Times story about his working for them for 3-4 years. They wouldn’t have been so surprised at the Hezbollah structure in Lebanon last summer, would they? But he was gone. 'affaires in Tehran.
“I mean, what difference does it make if he was snatched or if he defected? It’s the same guy, right?” The “he” was of course Ali Reza Asgari, the former Iranian deputy defense minister who disappeared from Istanbul in early February.JJA: Well, obviously it matters. If you’d ever developed a mind for counterintelligence you’d know right away. ML: You mean the possibility of disinformation, right? JJA: Well that’s one thing. If he just walked in, you’d have to wonder if he was a genuine defector or if the mullahs sent him to deceive us about something or other. On the other hand, if he’d been working with us for some time — I think it was the London Times that came up with this version — that might establish more confidence in his bona fides. ML: Or not... JJA: Right, or not, depending on whether the information he was providing was stuff we should have known about anyway, or whether it was really sensitive and new. And even then, you would have to have your doubts. [He always had his doubts, of course. You didn’t get to be the wizard of counterintelligence at CIA for a generation without having doubts. Lots of doubts.] ML: The newspaper accounts vary widely. The latest was an interview with his wife in Tehran, who said he was obviously kidnapped, that he had no possible motive to defect. JJA: Well of course she would say that, it’s what the regime has already said, and if they concluded he defected, she’s in big trouble now, since she doesn’t seem to have been aware of anything special and she didn’t warn anyone. ML: Yeah, fair enough. And she’s not the only one, is she? My pal Roger Simon, who writes stories and movies about plots like this, rightly says that the mullahs are undoubtedly looking for someone to take the rap for this. JJA: HoHO. Taking the rap is the least of the problems. He’s a big deal. A big fish, as the Iranians are saying. He could tell us a lot. ML: Right. But there’s something all these newspapers have missed. They forget he was Muslim. JJA: What is that supposed to mean? ML: He had several wives. Two for sure, and maybe three or four. An Iranian I trust said categorically that a wife and some children were flown from Istanbul to Tehran on the personal plane of the deputy defense minister. Maybe another wife disappeared along with him... JJA: Ah, that’s very interesting, if true. The folks arguing for defection said “his family” also disappeared. If that turns out to be wrong, it weakens the argument for defection. What else do you know? ML: I know a little about his work, and his movements. Several elements are very suggestive. First of all, despite the Iranian regime’s statements that he was “out of the loop,” he was very much at the center of it. As you know, he was one of the evil men who created Hezbollah... JJA: And how. A wicked genius of sorts. He was probably the guiding spirit behind the massacres of our Marines in Beirut in the early eighties. ML: Indeed. And he never stopped working with Hezbollah, he was a key intermediary to Mughniyah, the world’s most dangerous terrorist, and he organized the shipment of weapons from Syria to Iraq via Turkey. He’d been in Istanbul in January, I know that for sure. And I also know that our intel people were told about it at the time, by someone who told them that he was unhappy with his career and was a good recruitment target. JJA: Lots of smugglers in Turkey. Always have been. I remember during the Second World War... ML: That hotel he went to in Istanbul. You know, the one he went to after the Iranians had paid in cash for another one? Well the one he went to is the smugglers’ favorite spot, it’s where they went for business meetings. So he went there, left his bags — I’m going on newspaper reports here — walked out the door, and... JJA: And now he’s somewhere talking to someone. How unhappy was he? Unhappy enough to betray the Islamic Republic, which he had worked all his life to create? Unhappy enough to betray his comrades-in-arms, with whom he’d worked for so long? ML: Dunno. He’d been a real insider for many years, not just in the Defense Ministry, but he’d risen to become one of the Supreme Leader’s top advisers. He was in the kitchen cabinet, a very powerful position. But he was enraged when he didn’t get the top Defense job, he felt he’d been slighted. And then there are the legal questions. JJA: Yes, I’ve heard that myself. He was an inspector, and had identified corruption inside the ministry. As always happens, he was accused of corruption too, both financial and moral . ML: Moral? You mean sex? JJA: Sex. He liked the women. ML: Four wives weren’t enough? JJA: Hey, maybe it was only two, you said. ML: Even so, two wives, good grief... JJA: Anyway ... [and here I was starting to smell burning insulation from the Ouija board] ... anyway, he was brought before a judge and apparently got so angry he tried to beat up the magistrate. ML: You’re kidding. JJA: I don’t kid about things like this, you should know that ... [sparks came out of the Ouija board, and the burning smell was getting stronger]. ML: So he might have been afraid that his enemies were going to give him an all expenses paid vacation to Evin Prison. JJA: Certainly possible. But it’s not nearly enough to go on. We need more information... [My office now had a tiny cloud in it, and I was getting more static than Angleton. I got a few more fragments.] JJA: ...if kidnapped, most likely the Israelis, they have special teams...remember Eichmann?...but... ML: Yeah, the Israelis. But I don’t believe that London Times story about his working for them for 3-4 years. They wouldn’t have been so surprised at the Hezbollah structure in Lebanon last summer, would they? But he was gone. 'affaires in Tehran.
چهارشنبه، 23 اسفند ماه 1385 برابر با 2007 Wednesday 14 March
دست جمهوری اسلامی زیر ساطور سردار فراری سپاه
منصور امان
فرار یا دستگیری علیرضا عسگری، یک سرکرده بُلندپایه ی سپاه پاسداران، رژیم مُلاها را با بُحران جدیدی چه در روابط بین المللی خود و چه در پهنه ی داخلی، روبرو ساخته است. به موازات تقویت این احتمال که اطلاعات فرد یاد شُده به زودی علنی خواهد گردید، پایوران رژیم و دستگاههای امنیتی به فعالیتهای خود برای محدود کردن دامنه خسارت می افزایند.
تلاش ضد اطلاعاتی گُسترده ای که برای بی اهمیت جلوه دادن جایگاه پاسدار – سردار عسگری در ساختار نظامی و امنیتی حکومت صورت می گیرد، به گونه ناخواسته ای حساسیت رو به افزایش حکومت نسبت به این موضوع را تایید می کُند. در همین رابطه، وی که مُعاون وزیر دفاع در کابینه حُجت الاسلام خاتمی و سرکردگی سپاه قُدس در لُبنان را به عُهده داشته است، به عُنوان "کارمند بازنشسته" یا "تاجر روغن زیتون" مُعرفی می شود.
از سوی دیگر، مقامات جمهوری اسلامی کوشش می کُنند با بُزُرگ نمایی فرضیه ربودن آقای عسگری، شکاف عمیقی که در بالاترین رده های نظامی و امنیتی "نظام" به تماشا گُذاشته شُده است را بپوشانند. این امر به ویژه با توجه به تشنُج در مُناسبات خارجی رژیم و صف آرایی اقتصادی – نظامی در برابر آن، اقدامی در جهت حفظ انسجام درونی و جلوگیری از گُسترش آثار تحوُل اخیر بر لایه های بالایی "نظام" به شُمار می رود.
این در حالی است که به میان کشیدن پای سیا، موساد و - به تازگی - اینتلیجنت سرویس در این ماجرا، به نوبه خود می تواند ناتوانی حکومت در حفظ افراد کلیدی خویش را نیز اثبات کرده و بر بی اعتمادی رده های مزبور نسبت به استحکام چتر حفاظتی خود بیافزاید.
سُخنان "یک مقام آگاه" که خبرگُزاری حکومتی فارس آن را مُنتشر کرده است، نشان می دهد که جمهوری اسلامی همچنین به شدت نگران تاثیر افشای اطلاعات پاسدار – سردار عسگری بر پروسه بُحران هسته ای خود می باشد.
منبع مزبور در این رابطه به صراحت از تلاش آمریکا برای "تحت تاثیر قرار دادن شورای امنیت و کشورهای اروپایی" با استفاده از "این نمایش عملیات روانی" یاد کرده است.
آقای عسگری به ساطوری بدل گشته است که می تواند هر زمان بر دست رژیم - نه فقط - در لُبنان و عراق بلکه در اندرونی "نظام" نیز فرود آید.
دست جمهوری اسلامی زیر ساطور سردار فراری سپاه
منصور امان
فرار یا دستگیری علیرضا عسگری، یک سرکرده بُلندپایه ی سپاه پاسداران، رژیم مُلاها را با بُحران جدیدی چه در روابط بین المللی خود و چه در پهنه ی داخلی، روبرو ساخته است. به موازات تقویت این احتمال که اطلاعات فرد یاد شُده به زودی علنی خواهد گردید، پایوران رژیم و دستگاههای امنیتی به فعالیتهای خود برای محدود کردن دامنه خسارت می افزایند.
تلاش ضد اطلاعاتی گُسترده ای که برای بی اهمیت جلوه دادن جایگاه پاسدار – سردار عسگری در ساختار نظامی و امنیتی حکومت صورت می گیرد، به گونه ناخواسته ای حساسیت رو به افزایش حکومت نسبت به این موضوع را تایید می کُند. در همین رابطه، وی که مُعاون وزیر دفاع در کابینه حُجت الاسلام خاتمی و سرکردگی سپاه قُدس در لُبنان را به عُهده داشته است، به عُنوان "کارمند بازنشسته" یا "تاجر روغن زیتون" مُعرفی می شود.
از سوی دیگر، مقامات جمهوری اسلامی کوشش می کُنند با بُزُرگ نمایی فرضیه ربودن آقای عسگری، شکاف عمیقی که در بالاترین رده های نظامی و امنیتی "نظام" به تماشا گُذاشته شُده است را بپوشانند. این امر به ویژه با توجه به تشنُج در مُناسبات خارجی رژیم و صف آرایی اقتصادی – نظامی در برابر آن، اقدامی در جهت حفظ انسجام درونی و جلوگیری از گُسترش آثار تحوُل اخیر بر لایه های بالایی "نظام" به شُمار می رود.
این در حالی است که به میان کشیدن پای سیا، موساد و - به تازگی - اینتلیجنت سرویس در این ماجرا، به نوبه خود می تواند ناتوانی حکومت در حفظ افراد کلیدی خویش را نیز اثبات کرده و بر بی اعتمادی رده های مزبور نسبت به استحکام چتر حفاظتی خود بیافزاید.
سُخنان "یک مقام آگاه" که خبرگُزاری حکومتی فارس آن را مُنتشر کرده است، نشان می دهد که جمهوری اسلامی همچنین به شدت نگران تاثیر افشای اطلاعات پاسدار – سردار عسگری بر پروسه بُحران هسته ای خود می باشد.
منبع مزبور در این رابطه به صراحت از تلاش آمریکا برای "تحت تاثیر قرار دادن شورای امنیت و کشورهای اروپایی" با استفاده از "این نمایش عملیات روانی" یاد کرده است.
آقای عسگری به ساطوری بدل گشته است که می تواند هر زمان بر دست رژیم - نه فقط - در لُبنان و عراق بلکه در اندرونی "نظام" نیز فرود آید.
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