Doubled Or Tripled?

This is not about baseball. It is about the recent defection of an Iranian General. This latest report makes me even more sceptical about his defection.

AN Iranian general who defected to the West last month had been spying on Iran since 2003 when he was 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.

If he was suspect why would Iran allow his family to escape? That makes no sense. Unless his job is to feed misinformation to whoever he is currently talking to. In other words I don't think he has just been doubled. I suspect he has been tripled.

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.”

Yet he would have to leave much of his wealth behind. I'm sure the west would be in a position to make up for at least some of his losses. If the regime falls he might consider Beverly Hills for his place of residence. They have an Iranian Mayor.

H/T Captain's Quarters