Kuwaiti paper: New details on Ron Arad affair to be revealed soon
Unconfirmed report says Western intel agencies obtained information that will 'solve the mystery' of missing Israeli navigator's fate
New details that will shed light on the fate of Ron Arad will be revealed in the coming weeks, Kuwait newspaper Al-Siasa reported Wednesday.
The daily quoted Western intelligence officials as saying that surprising developments that will take place over the next few weeks may "solve two mysteries" – the fate of the missing Israeli Air Force navigator and the disappearance of four Iranian diplomats in Beirut in 1992.
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According to the report, which was not confirmed by any other source, "both mysteries will be solved in a way that cannot be disputed."
The paper said the new information about Arad, who has been missing in action since 1986, will be revealed to Israel as part of a deal between Iran and a Western intelligence agency.
According to the report, Hossein Mousavi, the brother of one of the Iranian diplomats who served in Lebanon and disappeared in 1982, was the one who transferred the information on the fate of Arad to a Western intelligence agency.
Mousavi currently serves as the chairman of the Center for Scientific Research and Middle East Strategic Studies. According to the report, the information he provided was transferred to Western intelligence officials via mediators. According to the report, the information was verified due to fears that Mousavi would disclose false information in order to obtain details about his brother's disappearance.
The Western intelligence officials said the deal was made possible by the recent improvement in ties between Iran and the West.
Arad's plane was shot down over Lebanon on October 16, 1986 while on a bombing mission. During that time, Mousavi served as an adviser to the Iranian foreign minister on the Middle East and the Arab world.
Arad, who was 28 when his plane was shot down, was captured by the Shiite Amal organization. Letters written by Arad and photos of him reached Israel during the first two years of his captivity, while negotiations on his release were conducted through European mediators. Amal apparently turned Arad over to Hezbollah, and the last sign of life from him was received on May 5, 1988.
In 2008 Hezbollah sent Israel a report claiming that Arad was killed in 1988 while trying to escape. Hassan Nasrallah's terror group ruled out the possibility that the Israeli navigator was transferred to Iran, but a confidential intelligence report exposed by Yedioth Ahronoth indicated that Arad was kidnapped in Lebanon by the Al-Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
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