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Missing Iranian official may have information on Ron Arad
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service

A former Iranian deputy defense minister whose reported disappearance in Turkey sparked allegations of a Mossad and CIA-linked kidnapping is likely to possess information on missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad, a British newspaper reported Monday.

Arad has been missing in action since a 1986 mission over Sidon, Lebanon.

According to The Daily Telegraph report, Iranian intelligence official Ali Reza Azkari, 63, is also likely to have intimate knowledge of Iran's defense establishment and nuclear development program.
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Azkari's disappearance in Turkey sparked allegations of a Mossad and CIA-linked kidnapping, but Haaretz has learned that he may have defected.

Azkari served in the senior defense post under former defense minister General Ali Samahani. Israeli media have said that for many years, Azkari was the most senior Iranian intelligence official in Lebanon, with responsibility for Iran's ties with Hezbollah.

Unnamed Arab diplomats have been quoted in Israeli media as charging that the Israeli Mossad and the Central Intelligence Agency kidnapped Azkari, who reportedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances from Istanbul, Turkey a month ago.

Israel Channel 10 television said late on Sunday that Azkari was kidnapped on February 7, after arriving in Istanbul from Damascus.

There has been no official Iranian statement on the reported affair.

According to one report, Azkari was to have stayed at a luxury hotel in the city, but disappeared before his planned arrival there. Another report held that he had checked into the hotel and was staying there at the time of his disappearance. The second account said that he left the hotel at one point and never returned, his baggage still in his room.

Iran reportedly sent a delegation of defense officials to Turkey last week to investigate the incident. It has also been reported that Iran has asked Interpol to open an investigation into the disappearance.



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  1.   DIFFERENCE IN HEADLINE AND CONTENT OF THE NEWS 17:41  |  JACKAL 05/03/07
  2.   #1 18:57  |  From the Moon 05/03/07
  3.   to Jackal 19:02  |  BKF 05/03/07
  4.   3. Problem with contemporary journalism 19:15  |  Paul Freedman 05/03/07
  5.   Defection 19:32  |  Nady 05/03/07
  6.   Calling John Le`Carre, Tom Clancy, and Tom Cruise 19:37  |  Jacob BLues 05/03/07
  7.   my main point was .... 19:43  |  JACKAL 05/03/07
  8.   #7: Jackal: shows up in lead paragraph 22:04  |  Paul Freedman 05/03/07
  9.   DEFECTED ??? 22:11  |  TOBIA 05/03/07
  10.   Whatever the reason, this is a coup for the West 00:50  |  BradL 06/03/07
  11.   Jackal - same could be said of kidnapping 00:50  |  Jon 06/03/07
  12.   defector & the "good life" 01:14  |  curious 06/03/07
  13.   missing iranian. 01:22  |  curious 06/03/07
  14.   Actually I sort of agree with Jackal 01:50  |  Ahmad 06/03/07
  15.   #2 01:56  |  Ahmad 06/03/07
  16.   #10 02:07  |  Ahmad 06/03/07
  17.   Mossad already in action 02:11  |  Joey 06/03/07
  18.   Too bad for Rod Arad 03:58  |  Mark Lincoln 06/03/07
  19.   Quite possibly he feared achMADinejad 04:22  |  * BEN JABO 06/03/07
  20.   Let the espionage gossips be juicier 07:31  |  Joseph E . 06/03/07
  21.   Mark Lincoln 21:48  |  Debra 06/03/07
  22.   #18 2ND TRY Mark Lincoln 00:04  |  * BEN JABO 07/03/07
  23.   # 5 Prove it 12:26  |  petra 20/03/09
  24.   Joey here`s first prize 12:34  |  petra 20/03/09
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