Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Wednesday that Turkey had launched an investigation into a former Iranian official who was claimed to be missing when he was in Turkey, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Gul made the remark at a joint press conference with Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabir al-Thani, who arrived here Wednesday afternoon on a working visit, after their talks in Ankara.

Turkish Foreign Ministry and intelligence and security departments had launched an investigation into the matter concerning former Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Ali Reza Asghari who was claimed to be missing when he was in Turkey, Gul said.

He said that Turkey attached importance to the matter and was working to find out the reality.

On Tuesday, Iran accused the West of abducting Asghari during his private trip to Turkey, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.

Iran's top police chief Gen. Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghaddam was quoted as saying that "it is possible that Asghari had been kidnapped by Western intelligence agencies."

Source: Xinhua