Ron Arad is not being held in Iran, said Iranian Interior Minister Mustafa Pour-Mohammadi in an interview with Kuwati daily al-Rai on Friday. The minister denied Iran had any information regarding the whereabouts
| 86' Letter Finally Read |
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| Hizbullah turns over letter from Ron Arad / Shimon Shiffer |
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Letter, photograph of captive IAF navigator turned over as part of recent prisoners' exchange deal. Arad's wife recognized handwriting, letter's authenticity unquestionable |
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or condition of the Israeli navigator missing since 1986.
"If you have the address where he is being held – give it to us so we could go and get him," he said in a challenge to Israeli officials who have long said that Iran is involved in the case.
Pour-Mohammadi noted, as Iran often does when Arad's name is brought up, that Teheran is also missing four Iranian diplomats who disappeared without a trace in the early 80's.
"You should remember that there are also four kidnapped Iranian diplomats whose whereabouts we know nothing about. We hope that they too will be found and safely returned to their families," he said.
The ongoing Arad affair made recent headlines this month after Hizbullah handed over a letter written by Arad several months after his capture in 1986 and a photograph of him in captivity as part of the prisoner's exchange deal between Israel and Lebanon.
The letter from Arad was addressed to his wife Tami, who is reported to have burst into tears when she saw the new photograph and identified her husband's handwriting in the letter.
Along with the letter and photograph, Hizbullah also turned over parts of the organization's report on Arad's captivity. The report detailed the efforts made by Hizbullah to discover what became of Arad, as well as the inevitable conclusion – they simply don't know.
The defense establishment has begun studying the report and is likely to ask the Hizbullah – through German mediator Conrad Gerhard – for more detailed information.
The information received would play an important role in the decision whether or not Israel will offer the Hizbullah the release of Samir Kuntar in exchange for kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
"Samir Kuntar will not be a part of any prisoner exchange deal… we will not release him without receiving concrete information regarding Ron Arad," Dekel was quoted in an article published in Germany's Der Spiegel magazine.
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