New Intelligence Suggests Iran Not Involved in Ron Arad's Disappearance
Translated & summarized from Kipa by baba
New intelligence indicates Iran was not involved in the 1986 capture and disappearance of Israeli navigator Ron Arad. Arad was held by the Amal organization in Lebanon and is believed to have been executed in 1988. This contradicts decades of assumption that Iran was responsible. Israeli forces conducted an operation in Lebanon this year searching for Arad's remains.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- New intelligence suggests Iran was not involved in the 1986 disappearance of navigator Ron Arad.
- Ron Arad was captured by the Amal organization in southern Lebanon in October 1986.
- Arad is believed to have been executed in 1988 in retaliation for a Lebanese militant's death.
- Israeli forces conducted an operation in Lebanon this year seeking Arad's body.
- The Mossad abducted General Abdullah Sabri in 2006, contributing to new intelligence.
New intelligence suggests that Iran may not have been involved in the disappearance of Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator who was captured in Lebanon in 1986. For decades, the prevailing assumption in Israel was that Iranian elements were behind Arad's vanishing. However, this understanding has recently shifted, partly due to the interrogation of General Abdullah Sabri, who was abducted by the Mossad in Damascus in 2021, according to a New York Times investigation.
Arad's ordeal began in October 1986 when his fighter jet malfunctioned during a bombing run against PLO targets in southern Lebanon. Arad and his pilot, Yishai Aviram, ejected from the aircraft. Aviram was rescued by an Israeli helicopter, but Arad was taken captive by the Shiite Amal organization. Contact with Arad was lost about a year later, and his trail disappeared completely by 1988. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit states that Arad is considered alive but missing.
It is now believed that Arad was likely executed in 1988 in the Lebanese village of Nabi Sheet, where he was held by operatives of Mustafa Dirani, a leader within Amal. This execution is thought to have been retaliation for the death of a Lebanese militant killed by IDF forces in the area that same night. Israel also abducted Iranian General Ali-Reza Asgari in Turkey in 2006 in an unsuccessful attempt to gain information about Arad's fate, and reportedly killed him later.
However, the current assessment is that Arad was never held in Iran, and that Iran and Hezbollah had no role in his disappearance. Reflecting this shift in focus from Iran to Lebanon, Israeli commando forces conducted an operation in Lebanon this year in hopes of finding Arad's body.
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