20 years on: Abduction of Iranian general questioned about Ron Arad revealed

An investigation published by The New York Times reveals new details about the fate of Iranian general Ali-Reza Asgari, who disappeared in Istanbul in 2006. According to former US officials who spoke to the newspaper, Asgari was abducted by Israel, interrogated for weeks about a possible connection to the disappearance of Israeli Air Force navigator Ron Arad, and then killed by Mossad operatives. According to the investigation, Israel carried out two operations over the past two decades to abduct Iranian generals abroad, one in Syria and the other in Turkey.

In one operation, General Abdullah Sabri was abducted from Syria, concealed inside a large cardboard box of the kind used to transport refrigerators. The second case, which was the focus of the new revelations, concerns Asgari's disappearance in Istanbul about 20 years ago. According to accounts cited in the investigation, following his abduction, Asgari was transferred to Mossad custody for questioning. The agency sought to determine whether he had information about the fate of Ron Arad, the Israeli navigator who was captured in Lebanon in 1986 and whose whereabouts have since remained unknown.

Investigators spent weeks trying to establish whether the Iranian general had any connection to Arad's disappearance or could provide information that would help resolve the case. However, according to the former US officials, the interrogation yielded no information indicating Asgari's involvement or shedding light on the Israeli navigator's fate. The investigation alleges that after the interrogation ended without results, Mossad operatives killed the Iranian general.

One former US official told the newspaper that Asgari's body was dumped in the Black Sea. In 2024, Iran International reported, citing US officials, that General Asgari had defected and was alive and well in the US.