Israel Denies Negotiating with Iran for Arad’s Release

Israel has categorically denied a German newspaper report that it is secretly negotiating with Iran, through German mediation, for the release of missing Israeli navigator Ron Arad.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin rejected the claims, which were made in an article published Tuesday in the German daily Frankfurter Allgemaine.

But Rabin did confirm that Germany had been negotiating with Iran for Arad’s release.

“There were talks between the Germans and the Iranians, but there were no concrete results concerning the whereabouts of Ron Arad and [concerning] the question of verification of whether he is alive or dead,” Rabin told Army Radio on Tuesday.

“We consider him alive, and we hold the Iranians responsible for his fate,” Rabin added, restating Israel’s long-held position.

In Bonn, government spokesman Dieter Vogel said he would not deny the report.

“Of course there were talks,” he said, “but these are talks of the secret service, and on those talks I cannot speak, neither am I empowered to do so.”

Arad, who was shot down over Lebanon in 1982, is one of six Israeli soldiers listed as missing in Lebanon. Of the six, he is believed to have the greatest chance of still being alive.

According to the German newspaper report, Israeli and Iranian representatives have been meeting at the Bonn office of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, with the Iranians is one room, the Israelis in another and a German official shuttling between them.

The report asserted that the meetings have reached a decisive phase and that a breakthrough was imminent.

The newspaper also claimed that the Iranians had handed over a letter and videotape proving that Arad is still alive. It further said that Arad’s wife, Tami, had taken part in some of the meetings.

None of the Arad family members would comment Tuesday about the newspaper report.

Oded Ben Ami, Rabin’s media adviser, said Israel did not have any details of the report, adding that Israeli officials knew nothing about the video or letter. He also said that the author of the report had never contacted the Prime Minister’s Office to confirm his claims.

The author of the exclusive newspaper report, Udo Ulfkotte, told Israel Radio that he knew of the talks for six months, but only wrote the story after an official involved in the negotiations told him hat it would not endanger Arad.

The report also stated that the Iranians were demanding the release of three Islamic leaders currently held in Israeli jails — Sheik Ahmed Yassin, Sheik Abdul Karim Obeid and Mustafa Dirani — in return for Arad’s release. Israel has been holding the three as bargaining chips for Arad’s release.

The report also said that Iran is demanding that Israel sign the international nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which comes up for renewal in April.

Reports of German mediation efforts in the Arad case have surfaced repeatedly during the past year.

Germany is considered a natural candidate for the mediation role because it maintains the best working relations with Iran of all Western countries – – despite official protests from the United States as well as Israel.