Mar 11 2007
Stranger Than James Bond
There is a fascinating story out today regarding a high level Iranian General who was apparently spying for the West for years who had to be spirited out of Iran – via Damascus, Syria of all places – with his family last month:
AN Iranian general who defected to the West last month had been spying on Iran since 2003 when he was recruited on an overseas business trip, according to Iranian sources.
This weekend Brigadier General Ali Reza Asgari, 63, the former deputy defence minister, is understood to be undergoing debriefing at a Nato base in Germany after he escaped from Iran, followed by his family.
A daring getaway via Damascus was organised by western intelligence agencies after it became clear that his cover was about to be blown. Iran’s notorious secret service, the Vavak, is believed to have suspected that he was a high-level mole.
According to the Iranian sources, the escape took several months to arrange. At least 10 close members of his family had to flee the country. Asgari has two sons, a daughter and several grandchildren and it is believed that all, including his daughters-in-law, are now out of Iran. Their final destination is unknown.
Asgari is said to have carried with him documents disclosing Iran’s links to terrorists in the Middle East. It is not thought that he had details of the country’s nuclear programme.
If the last part is true, we may get a good glimpse into Iran’s dealings with terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and al Qaeda and begin to be able to do some serious damage to their financial support networks – one of the best tactics to deal with these organizations. This has to be a real embarrassment to the Iranians – which can only be a good thing.
I wonder if this has anything to do with those direct talks.
Todays talking heads are all excited that Bush has done an about face on foreign policy, ie talking to Iran, nobody mentioned the defector. They got him, the President alright, maybe events on the ground which nobody will report has something to do with it.
I would really be interested in what light any documents might shed on recent Hezbollah activity in Venezuela where they are reported to be staffing up.
“I wonder if this has anything to do with those direct talks.”
I had heard some weeks/months ago that Iran was concerned that there was someone spying for the West. I am glad we were able to get him out. Any information we get from him might go a long way towards solving the Iran problem without massive bloodshed.
Perhaps this was the subject that had Pencil Neck and the 12th Imam’s mini-me yelling at one another?