Iranian general 'hands over vital documents after defecting to US'

Anne Penketh, Independent

An Iranian general appears to have defected to the West with vital documents, despite Iranian claims that he was snatched last month from a Turkish hotel by US or Israeli agents. A former Iranian deputy defence minister, Ali Rez Asgari has documents and maps detailing the relationship between the elite Revolutionary Guards and Islamist groups such as Hizbollah and Islamic Jihad, the London-based Asharq Alawsat newspaper said. The newspaper said the general was also briefing Western intelligence on Iran's links to groups in Iraq. These include the Mehdi Army of the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Badr organisation...

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