Ali-Reza Asgari

Ali-Reza Asgari (, born 1 November 1952) is an Iranian who served as a general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, as deputy defense minister, and as a cabinet member of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.

Asgari had been "pushed aside" from his ministerial role after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a former rival, came into power in 2005. Asgari disappeared in Turkey in early 2007, and news reports indicate that he either defected to, or was kidnapped by, Western intelligence agencies. His disappearance has also led to reports that Iran would retaliate by kidnapping American or Israeli officials in Europe. According to ''The Sunday Times'', Asgari was described as a "gold mine for western intelligence" by an Israeli defence source who claimed that they had been following him since the 1980s. Provided by Wikipedia