Iran seeks UN help on 'abducted' ex-official
Tehran asks for UN chief's help in learning fate of Ali Reza Asghari, former deputy defense minister who disappeared in Istanbul in 2007
Iran has asked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his help in learning the fate of its former deputy defense minister, which Tehran previously said was abducted by Israel.
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi urged Ban "to strive to clarify the fate" of Ali Reza Asghari who disappeared in Turkey in 2007, after checking into an Istanbul hotel.
The Iranian minister said that Israel is "directly responsible" for Asghari's life. Following the former defense minister's disappearance, Iranian officials charged that Israel abducted him.
In his letter, Salehi also called for an "opportune response from the international community and especially the organizations responsible for international peace and security."
According to older media reports that have not been confirmed, Ashgari defected from Iran voluntarily and later shared highly classified intelligence information with a Western power, believed to be the United States.
