Nineteen years after retired FBI agent Robert A. (“Bob”) Levinson, a Jewish American, vanished from Kish Island, Iran, U.S. investigators say the case remains unresolved.
In a statement marking the anniversary of his disappearance on March 9, 2007, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office renewed its appeal for information. Levinson, a former FBI special agent who earlier served with the Drug Enforcement Administration, disappeared while on a business trip to the Iranian resort island and has not been seen since.
“The FBI will never forget Bob, and we will not stop until we can provide answers to his family and loved ones,” stated Kash Patel, director of the FBI. “We will continue to use the FBI’s full range of investigative resources in our collaborative work with our U.S. government and international partners until we’ve uncovered the truth about what happened to him.”
U.S. officials say the investigation increasingly points to senior figures in Iran’s intelligence services as responsible for Levinson’s “abduction and confinement.” The U.S. government believes he died in captivity.
“The most credible evidence that the U.S. government has collected indicates that Bob died in Iranian captivity by 2020, making him the longest-held American hostage in U.S. history,” the agency said.
Among those identified by investigators are Iranian intelligence officers Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, whom U.S. officials say helped orchestrate the kidnapping. Baseri was reported killed in an airstrike in Iran earlier this year.
The FBI has also named several other officials it says were involved in Levinson’s abduction and the subsequent effort to obscure Iran’s role, including Reza Amiri Moghadam, Iran’s current ambassador to Pakistan; Taghi Daneshvar; and Gholamhossein Mohammadnia. According to the bureau, Mohammadnia at one point sought to shift blame for Levinson’s disappearance onto a terrorist group in Pakistan.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to Levinson’s location and recovery, while the U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program has offered up to $20 million for information that helps resolve the case.
