Mossad Kidnapped Iranian General in Istanbul 20 Years Ago, NYT Reports

A New York Times investigation has revealed that the Mossad kidnapped Iranian general Ali-Reza Asgari from Istanbul in 2006. According to former senior U.S. officials interviewed by the newspaper, Asgari was interrogated for weeks in an attempt to determine if he had any information regarding the disappearance of Israeli navigator Ron Arad.

Israel reportedly conducted two such operations to abduct Iranian generals outside its territory over the past two decades, one in Syria and another in Turkey. In the Syrian operation, General Abdallah Sabri was allegedly hidden inside a large cardboard box typically used for refrigerators. The more recent revelations focus on Asgari's disappearance in Istanbul approximately twenty years ago.

Following his abduction, Asgari was allegedly transferred for interrogation by the Mossad. The agency sought to ascertain if he possessed any knowledge about the fate of Ron Arad, an Israeli navigator captured in Lebanon in 1986, whose whereabouts have been unknown since. Investigators reportedly spent weeks examining whether Asgari was involved in Arad's disappearance or could provide clues to resolve the case.

However, the former U.S. officials stated that the investigation yielded no information implicating Asgari or shedding light on Arad's fate. The report claims that after the interrogation concluded without results, Mossad operatives killed the Iranian general. One former U.S. official told the newspaper that Asgari's body was disposed of in the Black Sea.