Elite Iranian general defects with Hezbollah’s arms secrets

Ray · 03-09-2007, 13:02 PM

Quote:

From The Times
March 09, 2007
Elite Iranian general defects with Hezbollah’s arms secrets
Richard Beeston and Michael Theodoulou

An Iranian general who went missing on a visit to Turkey last month appears to have defected to America, taking with him a treasure trove of his country’s most closely guarded secrets.

Ali Resa Asgari, 63, a general in the elite Revolutionary Guards and former Deputy Defence Minister, vanished on February 7 after arriving in Istanbul on a flight from Syria. He had reservations at the Ceylan Intercontinental Hotel but never checked in.

Iran has notified Interpol and raised fears that General Asgari might have been kidnapped. Yesterday, however, several sources confirmed reports in America that General Asgari had fled to the West, becoming the first senior Iran official to defect since the revolution 27 years ago.

Danny Yatom, the former head of Mossad and a member of the Knesset, said that the general could provide Western intelligence with a unique insight into Iran’s foreign operations in Lebanon and beyond.

From the very start I thought this was a defection,” Mr Yatom told The Times. “All the signals showed that it was well planned and executed. He left Iran with his family, so that no one would be able to put pressure on them. I assume the defection was to the US.”

Mr Yatom described the missing general as very important and said that he would be able to shed light on one of the murkiest chapters in recent Middle East history. From the early 1980s Iran funded, trained and armed members of the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, which began as a small Shia Muslim militia but is today the most powerful paramilitary force in the Levant.

The Iranians are accused of using Hezbollah to launch suicide bomb attacks against American, French and Israeli targets, to kidnap Westerners and to build a state within a state in southern Lebanon. They are also suspected of carrying out operations in Europe and even Argentina.

“He is a significant figure,” said one Western source, who follows Iran closely. “It has so far been very difficult to get reliable information on how Iran ran its operations in Lebanon. This could be a big break.”

Last summer Israel fought a bloody, 33-day war with Hezbollah after the group seized two Israeli soldiers, whose fate is unknown. At the time, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, boasted: “Israel doesn’t know our capabilities on every level. The Zionist enemy has not succeeded in infiltrating our group.” General Asgari could lift that veil of secrecy.

“It means for the first time, Hezbollah’s adversaries may have accurate estimates of stockpiles, weapons types, even perhaps placement and tactics,” said Nicholas Noe, the author of a forthcoming book on Hezbollah. “This is crucial because the limits and placement of Hezbollah’s weaponry has been a major problem.”

After Lebanon, General Asgari returned to Iran as a high-ranking official dealing with the arms trade and weapons industry, including the development of the Shaab-3 ballistic missile. He stepped down as Deputy Defence Minister in 2005. Iranian officials have played down General Asgari’s importance, saying he has been “out of the loop for four or five years. But his defectioncould cause a serious blow to Iran.

Elite Iranian general defects with Hezbollah’s arms secrets-News-World-Middle East-TimesOnline

This is quite a coup for the CIA.

It will be of great help to unravel the success of the Hezb in the last confrontation with Israel. Indeed, since everyone seems to be focussing on the defector General and on the Hezb tactics etc, it appears that the Hezb did achieve success that has confounded all.

One wonders if the General can throw some light on the nuclear issue since that is more important to the US and the world!

Dreadnought · 03-09-2007, 13:17 PM

And ofcoarse the very first thing they said was it was the West that kidnapped him. Go figure. How is it that when they want to leave they are kidnapped or killed or arrested or defected. When you want to leave the U.S. they just show you the door and be gone.

Hmm I wonder what interesting bits of info he shall yield.

Ray · 03-09-2007, 13:17 PM

A view from Tel Aviv.

Specifically more on the nuclear issue, though the Hezb issue remains on the highlight.

This coup by the CIA puts paid to the whine that the CIA is woefully short on Humint.

US has always been foremost in Humint and it is totally a canard to state that the US lacks Humint. To be a foremost nation, one cannot be short on Humint.

This is an excellent example of good Humint.

Quote:

'Defection' highlights nuclear espionage

The disappearance of an Iranian official and ongoing espionage activities undermine efforts to forge agreement with Iran on the nuclear issue.

Commentary by Dominic Moran in Tel Aviv for ISN Security Watch (09/03/07)

The disappearance of a top Iranian official in Turkey has focused attention on the apparent efforts of Western intelligence agencies to uncover incriminating revelations on the Islamic republic's regional role and controversial nuclear program.

Former Iranian deputy defense minister and Revolutionary Guards commander Ali Rez Asgari disappeared after checking into an Istanbul hotel in early February. Iran reportedly sent an official delegation to investigate his disappearance and has sought aid from Turkey and Interpol in finding him.

The Turkish daily Hürriyet reported in February that two foreigners had made the hotel booking for Asgari prior to his arrival, paying for the room in cash.

Iran's state-run media announced Asgari's disappearance on Tuesday, claiming that Western or Israeli intelligence agencies may have kidnapped him. Israeli embassies and consulates worldwide were put on a heightened state of alert in the wake of these statements in fear of retaliatory attacks.

In the first indication that Asgari may have defected, an unnamed US official told the Washington Post on Thursday that the former minister was answering questions on Hizbollah and Iran and the links between the two. The official, who did not identify Asgari's interrogators, added that this information was being provided in full to US intelligence agencies.

The official intimated that Asgari's defection was coordinated with Israel and that he had not been abducted against his will. There is speculation that Israel's purported aid was provided in return for information on the fate of missing Israeli aviator Ron Arad, who was shot down over Lebanon in 1986 and then held by Iran-allied militiamen before disappearing.

Former Mossad operatives told Israeli media agencies on Wednesday that Asgari had an intimate knowledge of the formation, equipping and funding of Hizbollah, which he allegedly oversaw as the de-facto commander of Revolutionary Guards forces in Lebanon through the 1980s and 1990s.

Recent years have seen series of revelations and rumors concerning the alleged espionage activities of Western intelligence agencies in Iran.

In 2004, Iranian officials released a series of announcements detailing the arrests of dozens of Iranian nationals accused of spying for the CIA or Mossad, and in March 2006 Iranian media reported the arrest of an alleged spy who had purportedly been passing information to the US on his country's nuclear program.

In a November issue of the bi-weekly magazine The New Yorker, veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersch alleged that Israeli spies inside the Iranian nuclear program had informed the White House that Iran had tested a trigger device for a nuclear weapon.

A February report by the private intelligence company Stratfor claimed that Mossad killed Iranian scientist Professor Ardashir Hosseinpour in January, in an attack that also killed and injured several other nuclear scientists. Hosseinpour was killed by "radioactive poisoning" in order to stop his work on uranium enrichment for the Iranian nuclear program, Stratfor alleged. Iranian media reports said the scientist's death was due to an accident involving "poison gas."

According to the Washington Post, Asgari, who served as a member of the reformist Khatami government until early 2005, is likely to have in-depth knowledge of Iran's national security infrastructure and conventional weapons stocks.

He does not seem to have been involved in the Iranian nuclear program, but his apparent absconding may have an impact on the current Lebanese political stalemate and Iran nuclear crisis.

The US will be particularly interested in any information Asgari possesses on the alleged involvement of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Hizbollah's 1983 bombings of the French Corps headquarters and a US Marines barracks in Beirut.

If these revelations prove substantial, and Western agencies choose to disseminate them publicly, they could ease pressure on Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to compromise on the formation of a unity government with Hizbollah.

It is unclear whether Asgari has any further information on Iranian involvement in Iraq, which could bolster the US dossier on alleged Revolutionary Guards complicity in attacks on US-led forces in the country.

However, any information he provides on Iranian involvement in Lebanon or Iraq could cement tentative Russian and Chinese support for a draft UN resolution significantly strengthening the sanctions package imposed in December.

Moscow has shown signs that it could be willing to allow an expansion of international sanctions on Iran to include a ban on military exports. This change in stance appears to be partially motivated by problems in securing Iranian compliance to payment schedules for the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear reactor.

Such a ban would have a significant, deleterious impact on the Iranian arms industry, which has been strengthened in recent years through the development of indigenous missile and other weapons systems.

While bolstering US sanction demands, the Asgari case and ongoing espionage activities also act to undermine efforts to forge agreement on the nuclear issue, while failing to prevent the large-scale uranium enrichment activities promised by the Islamic Republic this year.

With the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announcing on Thursday that it was limiting its technical cooperation with Iran, the chances for a diplomatic solution to the crisis look bleak.

Dr Dominic Moran is ISN Security Watch's senior correspondent in the Middle East

Dreadnought · 03-09-2007, 13:57 PM

Ray/Sir

I would offer that his name is no longer General such and such. Its now John Q. Public. Address: Anywhere within the continental 50 states in the U.S..
And might I add welcome to the U.S. hope you enjoy your stay.
I'm quite certain that what this gentlemen will have to say will have many important ears as it seems we are to get a history lesson covering the last 10 years into some very intresting fields of intell. You can bet Israel is quite happy as well. And pending on what he has to say you may see a drastic change in negociation tactics and then again perhaps no negociating at all.

If this gentlemen defected it could be a heads up that negociating may be coming to an end.

Dreadnought · 03-09-2007, 14:23 PM

This business with Iran and Russia and the funding for the reactor is nothing more then an elaborate smoke screen to make the U.N. and others concerned to look away while they still do their deal and Russia continues to arm them while telling the U.N. that Russia supports their sanctions against Iran. Nobody is fooled but the fools who think they are doing the fooling. But we shall see after this gentlemen spills the beans and enlightens quite a few agencies as to Irans true intentions.

omon · 03-09-2007, 14:51 PM

could it be a trick? i mean he defected with all secrets, and nobody, did nothing? hard to belive, such a fugure would be without survelence, even without him knowing? sounds too easy, may be he did all that to make us belive, he defected, and brought all secrets with him, while he brought disinformation. could that be a possibility?

T_igger_cs_30 · 03-09-2007, 14:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by omon

could it be a trick? i mean he defected with all secrets, and nobody, did nothing? hard to belive, such a fugure would be without survelence, even without him knowing? sounds too easy, may be he did all that to make us belive, he defected, and brought all secrets with him, while he brought disinformation. could that be a possibility?

Ah the start of the obligotary "conspiracy theory" as is the way with these things.............whichever it is hopefully some interesting reading is going to appear in the next while

Dreadnought · 03-09-2007, 15:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by omon

could it be a trick? i mean he defected with all secrets, and nobody, did nothing? hard to belive, such a fugure would be without survelence, even without him knowing? sounds too easy, may be he did all that to make us belive, he defected, and brought all secrets with him, while he brought disinformation. could that be a possibility?

Sources say that he took his family with him. Think of what could happen if he dont tell the truth and give up the info. If the U.S. were to deport him back to Iran what would become of himself and his family. Probably fall of the face of the earth.

Me, I have no wife or children but even if I did I wouldnt risk their lives playing a game between two nations over something so serious as this. To do so would mean he places very little value upon their immediate future and lives.

omon · 03-09-2007, 15:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreadnought

Sources say that he took his family with him. Think of what could happen if he dont tell the truth and give up the info. If the U.S. were to deport him back to Iran what would become of himself and his family. Probably fall of the face of the earth.

Me, I have no wife or children but even if I did I wouldnt risk their lives playing a game between two nations over something so serious as this. To do so would mean he places very little value upon their immediate future and lives.

that his job, to play such games, so what if us deports him, why would iran kill them, he did the job, he is their hero, is iran so stupid to let someone with this kind of info escape? or to think that he took his family on vacation, with all secret papers, to read before bedtime?
he already did a great job(if i'm right) convincing everyone he is for real, you wouldn't think, he is a mole.
as for family, did he take all his family, with him? i'm sure there others, sisters, brothers, cusins, inlaws, ..left in iran. i wouldn't care too much about his values,
but anyway, it might not be the case, but i wouldn't belive him right away, sounds too good to be true, not kosher.

Dreadnought · 03-09-2007, 15:48 PM

I think between the U.S. and Israel they should be able to see the tell tale signs of his being truthfull or not. Both countries know what happened on the outside and some inside things. Israel would be able to substanciate known things just by tracking Hez. Either way wont matter we already know Irans little games to get out of the spotlight but even if this a trick it wont work. We arent taking our eyes off the ball.

xerxes · 03-09-2007, 17:36 PM

Look like that we have an unpatriotic and cowardice act of defection from a senior Iranian general.

Tronic · 03-09-2007, 18:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xerxes

Look like that we have an unpatriotic and cowardice act of defection from a senior Iranian general.

he couldn't bare the bickering of the mullahs anymore...

xerxes · 03-09-2007, 18:35 PM

This defection reminds of a similiar trait in the 80s, which was only inverse. The person of Dr. Chamran a nuclear engineer, I think graduted in US who probably had all the things in the world, through his higher education and his place of living, but who cameback to Iran during the revolution and fought in Lebenon for while, later became the minister of defense and I think lost his life on the frontline in the 1980 or 1981.

Tronic · 03-09-2007, 19:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xerxes

This defection reminds of a similiar trait in the 80s, which was only inverse. The person of Dr. Chamran a nuclear engineer, I think graduted in US who probably had all the things in the world, through his higher education and his place of living, but who cameback to Iran during the revolution and fought in Lebenon for while, later became the minister of defense and I think lost his life on the frontline in the 1980 or 1981.

Minister of Defense fighting along the front lines?

Blademaster · 03-09-2007, 19:52 PM

No wonder why he deserved to die. But I think it was more of a case of forcing him to fight along the lines simply as a means to get him out of the way. I bet he wasn't really popular among the mullahs who sought to create their own private religious army, the Pashadwans (sp?)

03-09-2007, 13:17 PM	#2 (permalink)
Dreadnought *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 05-12-05 Posts: 5,328 Country:	And ofcoarse the very first thing they said was it was the West that kidnapped him. Go figure. How is it that when they want to leave they are kidnapped or killed or arrested or defected. When you want to leave the U.S. they just show you the door and be gone. Hmm I wonder what interesting bits of info he shall yield. __________________ Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure. Last edited by Dreadnought : 03-09-2007 at 13:19 PM.

03-09-2007, 13:57 PM	#4 (permalink)
Dreadnought *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 05-12-05 Posts: 5,328 Country:	Ray/Sir I would offer that his name is no longer General such and such. Its now John Q. Public. Address: Anywhere within the continental 50 states in the U.S.. And might I add welcome to the U.S. hope you enjoy your stay. I'm quite certain that what this gentlemen will have to say will have many important ears as it seems we are to get a history lesson covering the last 10 years into some very intresting fields of intell. You can bet Israel is quite happy as well. And pending on what he has to say you may see a drastic change in negociation tactics and then again perhaps no negociating at all. If this gentlemen defected it could be a heads up that negociating may be coming to an end. Last edited by Dreadnought : 03-09-2007 at 14:14 PM.

03-09-2007, 14:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
Dreadnought *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 05-12-05 Posts: 5,328 Country:	This business with Iran and Russia and the funding for the reactor is nothing more then an elaborate smoke screen to make the U.N. and others concerned to look away while they still do their deal and Russia continues to arm them while telling the U.N. that Russia supports their sanctions against Iran. Nobody is fooled but the fools who think they are doing the fooling. But we shall see after this gentlemen spills the beans and enlightens quite a few agencies as to Irans true intentions. Last edited by Dreadnought : 03-09-2007 at 14:26 PM.

03-09-2007, 17:36 PM	#11 (permalink)
xerxes Padishah Shahanshah *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 01-23-07 Location: Canada Posts: 950 Country:	Look like that we have an unpatriotic and cowardice act of defection from a senior Iranian general. __________________ If we contrast the rapid progress of this mischievous discovery of gunpowder with the slow and laborious advances of reason, science, and the arts of peace, a philosopher, according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the folly of mankind. - Edward Gibbon

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03-09-2007, 14:51 PM	#6 (permalink)
omon Field mechanik *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 11-01-06 Location: bk Posts: 1,925 Country:	could it be a trick? i mean he defected with all secrets, and nobody, did nothing? hard to belive, such a fugure would be without survelence, even without him knowing? sounds too easy, may be he did all that to make us belive, he defected, and brought all secrets with him, while he brought disinformation. could that be a possibility?

03-09-2007, 15:48 PM	#10 (permalink)
Dreadnought *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 05-12-05 Posts: 5,328 Country:	I think between the U.S. and Israel they should be able to see the tell tale signs of his being truthfull or not. Both countries know what happened on the outside and some inside things. Israel would be able to substanciate known things just by tracking Hez. Either way wont matter we already know Irans little games to get out of the spotlight but even if this a trick it wont work. We arent taking our eyes off the ball.

03-09-2007, 18:35 PM	#13 (permalink)
xerxes Padishah Shahanshah *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 01-23-07 Location: Canada Posts: 950 Country:	This defection reminds of a similiar trait in the 80s, which was only inverse. The person of Dr. Chamran a nuclear engineer, I think graduted in US who probably had all the things in the world, through his higher education and his place of living, but who cameback to Iran during the revolution and fought in Lebenon for while, later became the minister of defense and I think lost his life on the frontline in the 1980 or 1981.

03-09-2007, 19:52 PM	#15 (permalink)
Blademaster Military Enthusiast *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 08-15-03 Posts: 3,050	No wonder why he deserved to die. But I think it was more of a case of forcing him to fight along the lines simply as a means to get him out of the way. I bet he wasn't really popular among the mullahs who sought to create their own private religious army, the Pashadwans (sp?)

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