Mossad Kidnapped Two Iranian Generals in Failed Hunt for Missing Airman Ron Arad

Israel's Mossad kidnapped two Iranian generals and killed one of them in a decades-long hunt for a missing airman who was almost certainly never in Iran, a New York Times investigation published on Sunday found. Based on interviews with dozens of officials, it describes a search for navigator Ron Arad, captured in Lebanon in 1986, that led Israeli agents to seize senior officers abroad for information neither man had.

Key Points

• A New York Times investigation published Sunday found Mossad kidnapped two Iranian generals hunting for missing Israeli airman Ron Arad.
• Mossad agents kidnapped IRGC-Quds Force General Alireza Asgari in Istanbul in December 2006, interrogated him for weeks aboard a boat, then killed him and dumped his body in the Black Sea, three former US officials said.
• Agents also abducted IRGC General Abdullah Saberi in September 2021 while he was jogging in Damascus, taking him to Israel, where he was questioned solely about Arad; he too had no information.
• A joint Iranian-Hezbollah investigation concluded Arad died in 1988 in Nabi Chit, Lebanon, and Israeli officials now believe Iran never held him.
• In March 2026, Israeli commandos searched Nabi Chit and found no sign of Arad.

What Happened

Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator, has been missing since he bailed out of his plane during an operation in southern Lebanon in 1986. Israel believed he was captured by the Shiite Amal movement and handed over to Iran. Signs of life, including letters, reached his family until May 1988.

The first kidnapping came in December 2006. Asgari, a Quds Force general once stationed in Lebanon, had checked into the Ceylan Hotel in Istanbul when Mossad agents seized him. They questioned him for weeks aboard a boat, then killed him and dumped his body into the Black Sea after finding no evidence that he knew anything about Arad. Israel denied any involvement.

The second came almost fifteen years later. In September 2021, agents posing as movers seized Saberi while he was jogging in the diplomatic quarter of Damascus, near the Iranian Embassy, and took him to Israel, where he was questioned solely about Arad. Like Asgari, Saberi had no information.

Background and Context

The belief that Iran held Arad took root early. In 1992, Mossad officer Israel Perlov found an Iranian doctor who said he had treated Arad in both Iran and Lebanon, but the doctor's polygraph tests were inconclusive, and he disappeared after Israel offered him a suitcase full of money for information leading to Arad's rescue. In 1994, Israeli commandos abducted Mustafa Dirani deep inside Lebanon. Dirani, a senior member of the Amal militia that had captured Arad, told interrogators he had taken the Israeli to Nabi Chit in the Beqaa Valley, where he placed him under the guard of a trusted family. Dirani also told his captors that an Iranian official had said the Revolutionary Guard Corps had taken Arad to Iran.

A 2004 IDF commission determined Arad had died in the 1990s after being denied medical treatment. Israel declared Arad dead in 2008, and a 2016 joint Mossad and IDF Military Intelligence report said he had likely been dead since 1988.

Mossad's Hunt for Ron Arad: Two Kidnappings, One Killing

The investigation's central finding is that the evidence pointing to Iran was thin from the start, and Israel's own reviews said so. A 2006 Shin Bet review concluded that neither Iran nor Hezbollah had held Arad, but the government and the Mossad largely ignored it.

Iran had tasked Saberi himself to oversee the search in Lebanon for Arad, Israeli and Iranian officials told The Times, and that search concluded he had died in Nabi Chit and was buried there. To Israel, Saberi's involvement was evidence the IRGC was involved in holding Arad. Fifteen years later, the Mossad kidnapped Saberi too. The focus has now returned to Nabi Chit: Israel's leading theory is that Arad was killed in revenge for the death of Hassan Shukr in 1988. In March 2026, Israeli commandos searched Nabi Chit by helicopter and found nothing, in a raid accompanied by heavy airstrikes that killed at least 41 people in the area, according to local officials. Related coverage: US Intelligence: Iran Still Has Up to 2,500 Missiles Despite Trump Claims.

Reactions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the March 2026 raid in a statement at the time, saying: "The operation carried out last night did not produce what we were looking for, but the commitment of Israel, and my personal commitment, to completing all missions concerning our prisoners and missing persons is absolute." Arad's widow said later that the family did not want Israeli soldiers' lives to be put at risk in order to find his remains.

Why It Matters

The investigation reframes one of the longest-running mysteries in Israeli military history. For nearly forty years, Arad's fate has shaped Israeli intelligence priorities and prisoner negotiations, and for much of that time the working assumption was that Iran was hiding him. The Times reporting shows that assumption drove operations that killed a man who knew nothing, and that it persisted even after Israel's own security service concluded it was wrong.

It also matters now, in the middle of a war with Iran that began on February 28, 2026, when intelligence about Tehran is shaping decisions about strikes and negotiations. Also read: Iran Claims Six Drones Hit US Radar Base in Bahrain as Saudi Arabia Downs Houthi Missiles.

What Happens Next

The search for Arad's remains continues, centred on Nabi Chit, where the joint Iranian-Hezbollah investigation said he died and was buried. The March 2026 commando raid found nothing, and the heavy airstrikes that accompanied it killed at least 41 people, a toll that will complicate any further operation in the area. Israel has not said whether it plans another ground search.

Asgari is dead, his body dumped in the Black Sea. Saberi was released, but the investigation does not say what became of him, or whether Israel will acknowledge either operation. Also read: Trump May Hold Off Iran Attacks if Tehran and Houthis Stay Quiet, Reuters Reports.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Ron Arad?
Arad was an Israeli Air Force navigator who went missing in 1986 after bailing out of his plane in southern Lebanon. He was captured by the Shiite Amal movement, and signs of life reached his family until May 1988.

What did the New York Times investigation find?
Mossad kidnapped generals Alireza Asgari in Istanbul in 2006 and Abdullah Saberi in Damascus in 2021, killed Asgari and dumped his body in the Black Sea, and neither man had any information about Arad.

Did Iran hold Ron Arad?
Israeli officials now believe Iran never held Arad: a joint Iranian-Hezbollah investigation concluded he died in 1988 in Nabi Chit, Lebanon, and a 2006 Shin Bet review agreed.

Why did Israel think Iran had him?
An Iranian doctor claimed to have treated Arad in Iran, and Mustafa Dirani said an Iranian official told him the Guard had taken Arad to Iran. Both claims were uncorroborated.

Is the search for Arad still going on?
Yes. In March 2026, Israeli commandos searched Nabi Chit by helicopter and found nothing, but the search continues.