Iranian Former Minister Abducted or Defected?

There was news this week that sounds like the CIA has snatched a prominent Iranian citizen. Conflicting reports are that he's defecting versus abduction. Given that he is a retired general in the elite Revolutionary Guards, I think it's unlikely that it's a defection. The RG is a religiously oriented elite corp on the order of the SS. Their loyalty is unquestioned. The likelihood of a retired general would defect seems very unlikely. We instead have an attempt to get a smoking gun in the attempt to start a war with Iran.
Haaretz

The Iranian former deputy defense minister who disappeared in neighboring Turkey last month is being questioned in a northern European country under strict supervision, the pan-Arab newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Wednesday.


According to the newspaper, published in London, Ali Reza Asghari is undergoing thorough investigation by intelligence forces before being transferred to the United States. Asghari, who is a retired general in the elite Revolutionary Guards, disappeared in Istanbul about a month ago. A hotel room was booked under Asghari's name, but several reports indicate that he never arrived at the hotel.


On Tuesday, al-Sharq al-Awsat reported that Asghari left for the U.S. to seek asylum shortly after arriving in Turkey. Earlier Tuesday, Iran's top police chief, General Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghaddam, said Iran was investigating Asghari's fate with the cooperation of the Turkish police. "It is likely that Asghari has been abducted by the Western intelligence services," IRNA quoted the Iranian police general as saying. The general did not elaborate. IRNA further quoted Moghaddam as saying Asghari had stayed in Turkey for three days before being abducted.