Asgari has been Western spy for several years

If Iran were suspicious of him as a mole it is surprising that his family was able to get out of Iran as they apparently did. It makes me a bit suspicious that perhaps there may be a double double-cross involved. Asgari does not seem to have much intelligence on the nuclear program but perhaps quite a bit of (older) intelligence on Hezbollah Iran relationships.


From The Sunday Times
March 11, 2007
Defector spied on Iran for years
Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv
recruited on an overseas business trip,
according to Iranian sources.

This weekend Brigadier General Ali Reza Asgari, 63, the former deputy
defence minister, is understood to be undergoing debriefing at a Nato
base in Germany after he escaped from Iran, followed by his family.

A daring getaway via Damascus was organised by western intelligence
agencies after it became clear that his cover was about to be blown.
Iran's notorious secret service, the Vavak, is believed to have
suspected that he was a high-level mole.

According to the Iranian sources, the escape took several months to
arrange. At least 10 close members of his family had to flee the
country. Asgari has two sons, a daughter and several grandchildren and
it is believed that all, including his daughters-in-law, are now out
of Iran. Their final destination is unknown.

Asgari is said to have carried with him documents disclosing Iran's
links to terrorists in the Middle East. It is not thought that he had
details of the country's nuclear programme.

An Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Aharonot, claimed this weekend that
Mossad, Israel's external security service, had orchestrated his
defection. There is some evidence that the Mossad station in Istanbul
was involved in shadowing Asgari after he arrived in Turkey via
Damascus last month.

It is unclear which intelligence organisation he was spying for. "He
probably was working for Mossad but believed he was working for a
European intelligence agency," said an Israeli defence source.

Asgari's escape has provoked alarm in the Iranian regime. "Asgari is a
gold mine for western intelligence," said an Israeli defence source.
"We have been following him for years, especially since the late 1980s
when he was commander of the Revolutionary Guard in Lebanon."

In 1997 he was appointed deputy defence minister in charge of internal
investigations. He uncovered several cases of embezzlement in the
Republican Guard that made him unpopular. He was pushed aside after
President Mahmoud Ahmadine-jad came to power in 2006. The two had been
rivals for many years and Asgari realised that his days were numbered.

During an overseas business trip in 2003 he is said to have met a new
business partner, who turned out to be a foreign intelligence officer.
"Ali Reza was a wealthy man even before 2003," said an Iranian source.
"Since 2003 he has become a very wealthy man."

On February 7, four days after arriving in Damascus and having been
assured his family was safe, Asgari boarded a flight to Istanbul. He
was given a new passport and left Turkey by car - to disappear into
the shadows.