Webloggin » Ali Reza Asgari, International Man of Mystery

Ali Reza Asgari, international man of mystery. With a head full of Iranian secrets, did he willingly defect or was he nabbed. If snatched against his will, who did the deed? Was it the Israeli Mossad, was it Iranian groups who want regime change, was it some agent of the United States? Is he in the United States, or in Germany, and is he spilling what he knows? Oh, I do love a good mystery.

It seems likely that he voluntarily sought out the United States, since his family is also missing. Let’s hope they are all safe and in Western protection. I’ll bet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad needs a fresh pair of BVD’s. Ali Reza Asgari knows, he knows where the bodies are buried, he knows the corruption in Iran, he knows!!!

Captain’s Quarters has three possible scenarios:

Sources offer competing theories for his disappearance. Some believe the Mossad captured Asgari, hoping to learn more about Iran’s nuclear program. Others claim he surrendered himself voluntarily to the US. Asgari could also have been captured by the US in retaliation for the abduction and murder of five American soldiers in Iraq, an operation that Asgari likely ran. [snip]

Their agents, their networks, their system of safehouses — anything Asgari used or knew has to be trashed. That means a massive effort to repenetrate Iraqi institutions, and that may be more difficult than ever with the new surge in Baghdad suppressing the reach of the Mahdi Army.

Free Speech:

Would we really be so bold as to kidnap a retired Pasdaran general? [snip]

Yet Debkafile (and yes it sometimes seems like the tabloid of international affairs) says the general was involved in the Karbala infiltration, assault, and murder of five of our officers. We are playing rough in response by this theory.Attacking Iran is a bad option. Letting Iran get nukes is worse. Regime change would erase the worse aspects of either option. It won’t be easy mind you, but better.

The Agonist:

Menashe Amir, an Israeli analyst of Iranian affairs, said he had information suggesting Gen Asgari’s family had been with him when he vanished. “According to part of the information, his wife and children managed to leave Iran before his disappearance,” Mr Amir told Israeli Army radio, without providing his sources. “It’s very possible that he decided to defect.”

But Rasool Nafisi, an Iranian political analyst at Strayer University in Virginia, suggested the disappearance bore the trademarks of the main Iranian rebel group, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), which is currently based in a US-guarded military camp inside Iraq. “My guess is that it’s the MEK. They have been very active in Turkey for years. According to reports in Iran, the people who interrogated the Iranian diplomats from Irbil [arrested by US forces in January] were MEK.”

Donklephant:

Look for this guy to be used to justify military strikes against the country. Let’s just hope he’s not another Curveball, and that we’re more careful with who we trust for our intelligence from now on, yes

Powerline:

This is from Stratfor.

Reports that dozens of IRGC members working in cultural centers and embassies in the Arab world and Europe have been called back to Tehran, for fear that their identities will be disclosed, lend credence to the utility of the information Askari might offer. Some sources have characterized his possible defection as a “deathblow.”

While a kidnapped Askari would be of deep concern, an Askari who defected willingly would be a nightmare for Tehran … The U.S. intelligence community could already have been working him for months — or years.

Where’s Ali Reza Asghari????, Stix Blog

Is he in the US custody, Israeli cistody, on the beach in West Palm Beach??? Who really knows. But an Arab newspaper is saying he is in the US.

H/T to Hot Air via Ace [snip]

Al-Sharq al-Awsat’s sources, however, claim the official was not abducted but left for the United States “along with the secrets he carried.”

Security was beefed up in Israeli embassies worldwide Tuesday following reports that Iran suspected the CIA and the Mossad of involvement in Asghari’s disappearance.

A British newspaper reported Monday that Asghari is likely to possess information on missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad.

Panic in Tehran, Pajamas Media

Now a report by the Arabic newspaper Al Sharq Al Wasat says that Asgari defected to the US after arriving in Istanbul from Damascus on February 7th.

Although the story has not been confirmed by any sovereign authority, it is already evident that the saga has created panic inside Ahmadinejad’s administration.

Soon after his disappearance was discovered, Iran dispatched an operations team to Ankara to help the Turkish authorities to look for him. At the same time, a public relations campaign was launched with Iranian minister Mottaki has doing his best to downplay Asgari’s importance as an official in order to reduce the damage to the Iranian government’s image.

Stubborn Facts:

In other Iran news, Gateway Pundit has a report on the massive teacher’s strike in Tehran, the third in the last few weeks. Pics and video.

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