White House Demands That Iran Release Robert Levinson
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Trump administration called on Iran to return a Jewish-American man who disappeared from Iran in 2007 while working on behalf of the CIA.
The statement issued Friday by the White House said the United States is “redoubling efforts to bring home all Americans unjustly detained abroad,” naming specifically Robert Levinson, an American former law enforcement officer, as well as businessman Siamak Namazi, 48, and his father, Baquer, both jailed on espionage charges.
Levinson, 68, of Coral Springs, Florida, was a private investigator and former agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation who also was a part-time consultant for the Central Intelligence Agency. He has been missing since disappearing from Iran’s Kish Island during what has since been revealed as a rogue CIA operation.
In March, the Levinson family sued Iran in federal court for unspecified damages, in part for inflicting emotional distress on his wife and seven children.
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