According to the testimony of three Iranian exiles, Ron Arad, unable to walk, was held until at least three years ago in a small and secret prison cell in northern-Teheran.
The Hebrew news site Ynet contains a detailed account of the testimonies of the three Iranian exiles who said they saw Ron Arad. According to the picture drawn by the three - which is being treated respectfully but cautiously by Israeli intelligence - Arad, unable to walk, was held at least until three years ago in a small and secret prison cell in northern-Teheran.
The testimonies of the three Iranians, which were gathered at different times over the past three years and mostly within the last three months, tell many heretofore unknown details of Ron Arad's tribulations over the past ten years. In mid-'94, the Iranians purchased him from Mustafa Dirani, who took cruel control of him in Lebanon, has since been captured by special IDF forces, and is now being held in Israel.
The Iranians brought him to Hizbullah headquarters in Lebanon, and later took him to Iran for a security interrogation. Arad was dressed in an Iranian Revolutionary Guard uniform and placed on a well-guarded truck bound for Damascus.
One source said that while still in Syria, a cruel operation paralyzing him at his knees and down was performed on him, in order to prevent him from trying to escape. He had apparently tried to do just that while still in Lebanon. The operation left Arad bound to a wheelchair. He was flown from Syria to Iran, held in various tightly-guarded buildings, and underwent some long interrogations sessions. No details on the interrogations were provided.
About five years ago, he was transferred to the prison in which he was seen three years ago and in which he might still be today. Each cell in the complex is 20 square meters in area, with no windows but with an air conditioning system. Two 24-hour video cameras are installed in each room, and the prisoners are taken out - one at a time - to breath fresh air twice a day.
One source said that he once asked Ron how he was doing, and received a short reply in Arabic, "with maybe a word in Hebrew as well." Arad was hospitalized at least twice because of heart problems.
Ron Arad was described as very thin and gaunt, with a sad and hollow expression, and as one who underwent tremendous hardships but has strong standing power.
Israeli sources say that the report has "more than an iota of truth."
A rally on behalf of Ron Arad will be held Thursday evening, October 16, at 19:30 at the Tel Aviv Museum Plaza in Tel Aviv.
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=50937
Iran's Regime
by Robert W. Tracinski (July 3, 2003)
Article website address: http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=2902
Summary: The reasons for toppling Iran's theocracy are far stronger--and more certain--than the reasons for invading Iraq.
The Bush administration has been right in recent weeks to focus attention on Iran--but not because of the threat that Iran might build nuclear weapons. Iran is the source of a much more powerful weapon of mass destruction that has already been unleashed against the West: the ideology of Islamic theocracy, with its tactic of state-sponsored terrorism.
And we must confront this threat now because we have an opportunity to strike at the very heart of Iran's regime by supporting its repudiation by its own citizens.
Iran has long been the leading ideological and material source of terrorism. The Ayatollah Khomeini was the first to develop a systematic theory of modern Islamic theocracy--a totalitarian fusion of mosque and state that is nearly identical to the philosophy later espoused by Osama bin Laden. Under the theocracy founded by Khomeini, Iran has been a systematic exporter of the ideas and methods of terrorism, backing international terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Most important, Iran was the first Islamic regime to strike systematically at the United States, from the seizing of our embassy in Tehran in 1979--to the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983--to the kidnapping of Americans in Lebanon through the 1980s--to Iran's probable involvement in the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996--to its sheltering of al Qaeda leaders responsible for the latest anti-American bombing in Saudi Arabia. For almost a quarter of a century, Iran has been at war against the United States of America.
The most dangerous precedent set by this not-so-secret war is the fact that America has refused to fight back. Every administration since 1979 has followed a policy of appeasement, from trading arms for hostages to the State Department's recent "secret" negotiations with the mullahs.
Iran's rulers use terrorism as a tactic because it allows them to wage war against America without suffering the consequences of a real confrontation with a powerful foe. But this only works because we have chosen not to respond.
Now, however, we have been given an unprecedented opportunity to strike at the heart of the mullah's power. When the Soviet Union fell, the world discovered that no one hated Communism more than those forced to live under it. Similarly, no one in the Middle East hates Islamic theocracy more than the young people of Iran. For four years, Iranian students have held mass protests in the streets. These protesters are openly fighting for the right principles: the idea of a secular government with freedom of speech and separation of mosque and state.
Despite arrests of opposition leaders, the rebellion is growing--and it has been emboldened by America's invasion of Iraq. A reporter with McLean's, a Canadian newsmagazine, recently traveled across Iran and heard one message: "they would welcome American troops if they were sent to remove the leadership." A young female student told him: "We want more freedom. We want the freedom to speak our minds, and we think America can bring this to us."
These demands for freedom are more than loose talk. The Iranian dissidents have set July 9 as the date for a massive general strike to protest against theocracy--an event that could initiate a showdown with the regime. This opportunity is too important, and the threat from Iran is too urgent, to allow for a moment's delay. It is crucial for Congress and the administration to provide immediate material, diplomatic, and moral support for the Iranian rebels.
But we dare not depend on these unarmed dissidents to overthrow the mullahs on their own. We cannot abandon them to an Iranian equivalent of the Tiananmen Square massacre. We must be prepared to use our overwhelming military might to destroy Iran's theocracy.
The reasons for toppling Iran's theocracy are far stronger--and more certain--than the reasons for invading Iraq. President Bush has described America's military victory in Iraq as the "turning of the tide" in the War on Terrorism. But supporting the rebellion against the mullahs would be more than a military victory. It could decisively turn the ideological tide in the Middle East. Helping to establish a secular government on the ruins of a theocracy would provide a vivid demonstration of the failure of Islamic fanaticism--and a model of a free, prosperous, secular society.
This is the main battle in the War on Terrorism, and it is about to commence. America only needs to decide whether we will choose to fight it.
About the Author: Mr. Tracinski is a fellow, writer, teacher and analyst with the Ayn Rand Institute and speaks regularly at conferences and on college campuses about the philosophy of the late novelist Ayn Rand.