U.S. intelligence reportedly believes Israel was involved in the
disappearance of a retired Iranian general. The Washington Post on Thursday
quoted an unnamed U.S. official as suggesting that Israeli agents
“orchestrated” the defection of Ali Reza Asgari, a former Iranian defense
minister who went missing last month while on a visit to Turkey.
Israel
played down the report. “To my knowledge, Israel is not involved in any way
in this disappearance,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Jerusalem.
According to The Washington Post, Asgari is being debriefed by
Western intelligence and the United States has full access to the
information. But the newspaper played down speculation that Asgari is
knowledgable about Iran’s nuclear program, saying that his expertise is on
Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia.
