The "Iran International" website shed light in an extensive report on former Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader Ali Reza Asgari, surrounded by conflicting narratives and much mystery.
**Who is Ali Reza Asgari?**
Asgari previously held the position of commander of the Lebanon Corps under the Revolutionary Guard, the chief commander of Revolutionary Guard operations, and an assistant in the monitoring department at the Iranian Ministry of Defense during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami. He suddenly disappeared in 2006 after a trip to Turkey, and for the past 17 years, his story has been marked by conflicting news in Iranian and international media. Family members stated he went to Turkey and Syria for olive trade, while friends claimed he was on a business mission. International media reported from the beginning of his disappearance, citing Western intelligence sources, that "Asgari" was in contact with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and that he voluntarily went to the United States. Meanwhile, Iranian officials claim he was kidnapped by either the Israeli Mossad or the CIA.
To compile this report, "Iran International" contacted several sources, including relatives of Asgari's wife, three of his acquaintances and former colleagues, a former Revolutionary Guard commander, a European diplomatic source, and three U.S. intelligence sources.
Asgari's story begins when he traveled to Damascus in 2006. Days later, he arrived in Istanbul and settled in the "Giran" hotel, where he turned off his mobile phone two days later and has been missing officially since then. On March 11, 2007, the British newspaper "Sunday Times" published a report on Asgari, stating that the Iranian military leader had become a spy for foreign intelligence services in 2003. A week later, the same newspaper quoted an American official stating that Asgari had been interrogated in Europe. At the same time, news surfaced suggesting Asgari was transferred to a NATO base in Frankfurt, Germany. On March 14, 2007, then-German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung responded to a question about Ali Reza Asgari's presence in Germany: "I cannot make statements on this subject."
The U.S. State Department spokesperson at that time, Sean McCormack, also refrained from denying Asgari's presence in the United States, saying, "I cannot comment on this file." In 2007, "The Times" reported that the information obtained from Ali Reza Asgari was "highly classified" and was sent directly to the head of the CIA. In the book "A Noble Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames" by Kai Bird, published in 2014, it is mentioned, drawing from 40 sources, that Asgari obtained asylum in the U.S. in exchange for providing information about Iran's nuclear program.
A European diplomatic source and three U.S. intelligence sources interviewed by "Iran International" confirmed that "Ali Reza Asgari was transferred during his disappearance by the Americans, of his own will, from Turkey to a U.S. base in Germany, and shortly thereafter was moved to the United States, where he lives under a new identity as part of a witness protection program." An informed source told the outlet that Asgari's transition to the United States remained highly secretive for years: "At least until the National Intelligence Assessment was released in 2007, nobody knew about this significant intelligence accomplishment, except for a limited number of high-ranking officials at the CIA, the White House, the Pentagon, and a few intelligence agencies involved in the case."
As for Ali Reza Asgari’s case, it was an exception for the West; he was neither a scientist nor a key figure in Iran's military or nuclear program when he sought refuge in the West. However, as an Israeli military official told "The Times", "He is a golden source for Western intelligence services."
**A Golden Source**
His information led to changes in several files, including:
- **The Syrian Nuclear Reactor:** In 2007, Squadron 69 of the Israeli Air Force bombed and destroyed a military complex in Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria. Seven months later, the U.S. announced that the bombed complex was a nuclear site with military objectives. In 2009, Hans Rühle, former head of planning at the German Ministry of Defense and former commander of NATO’s headquarters in Germany, confirmed that the information provided by Ali Reza Asgari about the Syrian nuclear project in Deir ez-Zor led to the revelation and destruction of the site by Israel.
- **Imad Mughniyeh:** Known as Haj Rezwan, he was the highest-ranking military commander of Hezbollah in Lebanon and was killed in 2008 in a car bomb explosion in Damascus. An investigation by "The Washington Post" into his assassination highlighted cooperation between the CIA and Mossad in killing him, emphasizing that his hiding place in Damascus was known to the CIA a year before his death. In a 2014 interview with "The New York Times", Kai Bird stated that Ali Reza Asgari likely provided the Americans with information about Mughniyeh's secret location.
- **Iran's Nuclear Program:** Following the publication of the U.S. intelligence assessment in 2007 regarding Iran's nuclear capabilities, "The Guardian" reported that diplomatic and security sources in Washington indicated that this new assessment stemmed from information potentially obtained from Iranian defector Ali Reza Asgari. Israeli sources confirmed in discussions with "The Times" that Ali Reza Asgari provided valuable information about Iran’s nuclear program to U.S. intelligence.
Three U.S. intelligence sources and a European diplomatic source confirmed to "Iran International" that Ali Reza Asgari is now in America, living in one of its vast states under a new identity. These sources also confirmed that he has changed the state he resides in several times over the past 17 years.
