Did Israel Kidnap An Iranian General? No, Probably Not.

Something’s going on, but we doubt the Iranian version on principle:

A senior Iranian general, Ali-Raza Asgari, went missing nearly a month ago in Istanbul and Iranian officials claim that Israel and the United States may have had a hand in his disappearance. Several days ago, Iranian website Baztab, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, reported that during the 1980s Asgari held a senior position in the Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon , and that following his return to Iran he was appointed deputy defense minister. No official source in Iran has commented on the report about the disappearance, but a top official told Baztab that “some of the claims in the report are unequivocally incorrect.”

JPost has their own writeup, and reports that Interpol is involved.

Reasons to doubt that this guy was kidnapped:

(1) As of posting, Debka hasn’t picked up the story. As far as we’re concerned, that means that this guy went out for an ice cream cone. Not so much because Debka gets things right, but almost exactly the opposite – if a combination of drugs, strobe lights, and a sense-dep tank will draw a connection to a spy thriller, Debka will publish it. No Debka story, ergo no story.

(2) It’s way more likely that he defected. He was traveling to a NATO country, etc etc. This actually isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. Maybe this guy is kind of sane and has a family, and so he isn’t comfortable with the Iranian regime’s boast that they’re willing to sacrifice large parts of the Muslim world just so they get to nuke five and a half million Jews.

References:
* Israel involved in Iranian general’s disappearance? [YNet]
* General vanishes; Mossad/CIA blamed [JPost]

Previously:
* Everyone Wants To Be A Mossad Target
* Hamas Tempts The Mossad
* Munich is Cheap Propaganda